
Class 

Book 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 






















/ 





































Tourists’ Hand-Book. 

WILL BE SENT FREE UPON APPLICATION TO 


H. E. TUPPER, 

GENERAL EASTERN AGENT, 

353 Broadway, NEW YORK. 

W. J. SHOTWELL, 

GENERAL AGENT, 

3 14 California St., SAN FRANCISCO. 

W. H. CUNDEY, 

TRAVELING PASSENGER AGENT, 

DENVER, COLO. 

/ 

H. M. CUSHING, 

TRAVELING PASSENGER AGENT, 

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 

S. K. HOOPER, 

GENERAL PASSENGER AGENT, 

DENVER, COLO. 

E.T. JEFFERY, 

PRES'T AND GEN’L MANAGER, 

DENVER, COLO. 


J. W SLOSSON, 

GENERAL AGENT, 

236 Clark St., CHICAGO. 

H.V. LUYSTER, * 

TRAVELING PASSENGER AGENT, 

I 15 W. Eighth St.. KANSAS CITY, MO. 

B. F. NEVINS, 

GENERAL AGENT, . 

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 

W. H. SNEDAKER, 

GENERAL AGENT R. G. W. RY., 

14 Montgomery St., SAN FRANCISCO. 

T. E. SWANN, 

ASS'T GEN’L PASS’R AGENT, 

DENVER, COLO. 

A. S. HUGHES, 

TRAFFIC MANAGER, 

DENVER, COLO. 


FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION 



OURISTS’ 




DESCRI PTI VE OF 


COLORADO, NEW MEXICO s»UTAH 





/y % 


FOURTEENTH EDITION, TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH THOUSAND 


^tlAR 23 1898 


PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PASSENGER 
DEPARTMENT OF THE 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1896 , by S. K. Hooper, at the 
Office of the Librarian at Washington, D. C. 













INTRODUCTION. 


This little book is intended to give the tourist information, and 
it does not aspire to vivid description or the graces of fine writing. 
It will endeavor to tell the traveler what to see and how to see it, 


and to give him as concisely as possible exactly the information he 


would naturally desire, so that he can employ his time to the best 
advantage and know beforehand what he should see, how he can 
reach his destination and what accommodations he will find. 

The Rocky Mountains have until recently been very little 
known to the outside world, and so rapidly have they been opened 
up by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, and so enterprising have 
the people of the country been in providing accommodations for 
travelers and facilities for their enjoyment, .that this Company feels 
that it is due to the people of Colorado, as well as to the Colorado 
tourist, to issue, in as compact a form as practicable, a hand-book 
of this character. 

With Denver as a starting point, the towns and pleasure resorts 
throughout the State which are of especial interest to the tourist, and 
which are within practicable reach of the railroad, will be noticed. 

For full particulars as to train service, the reader is referred to 
the regular folder of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Company. 

For rates of fare and full information upon points not mentioned 
in this book, call on or address 



Gen l Pass'r and Ticket Agent , 

Denver, Colorado. 


AMONG THE ROCKIES 


DENVER. 

Capital of Colorado. Population, 160,000. Elevation, 5,196 feet. 

tlfN 1858 the Pike’s Peak gold excitement caused a rush from the East to 
jig Colorado, and a camp was pitched at the junction of Cherry Creek and the 
n|| Platte, which shortly after was christened Auraria. From this small 
beginning sprang Denver, the “Queen City of the Plains.” Beautiful for 
situation, with the great range of the Rocky Mountains towering in the west, 
and the illimitable plains stretching to the Missouri River on the east, Denver is 
worthy of the attention and admiration of all who behold it. It is one of the 
greatest railroad points in the West, twelve railroads centering here and radiating 
to all parts of the United States, thus giving Denver almost unsurpassed facilities 
for trans-continental traffic. Denver is the capital of the State and the county 
seat of Arapahoe County. The foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains are only 
fourteen miles distant, and Long’s Peak, James’ Peak, Gray’s Peak and Pike’s 
Peak are in plain view, connected by the gleaming, serrated line of the Snowy 
Range. Parks, boulevards, opera houses and costly and elegant public buildings 
and private residences are a few of the most obvious signs of wealth, cultivation 
and luxury which are to be found in Colorado’s capital. Among the principal 
places of interest may be mentioned the Tabor Grand Opera House, erected at a 
cost of $850,000, and which is the finest building of its kind in America, having 
but one rival in the world, the Grand Opera House in Paris, the New Broadway 
Theatre, being a marvel of beauty and comfort; the United States Mint, United 
States Custom House and Post Office; the County Court House — a most elegant 
and costly structure, occupying an entire block with the buildings and grounds; 
the magnificent new State Capitol, now nearing completion, occupying three 
entire blocks and having cost nearly $3,000,000. It is constructed of native granite, 
and all floors and wainscoting of Colorado marble; the City Hall, University of 
Denver, St. Mary’s Academy,Wolfe Hall, Trinity M. E. Church, St. John’s Cathedral, 
College of the Sacred Heart, Jarvis Hall, Baptist Female College; the Argo, 
Holden and Grant Smelting Works, and a large number of churches, hotels and 
business blocks, any of which would do credit to any of the metropolitan cities 
of the East. The city has extensive systems of street cars, electric motor lines 
and cables, is lighted by gas and electricity, has excellent water-works, a well- 
disciplined and effective paid fire department, good police force, and telephone 
communication in the city and with suburban towns to the distance of one 
hundred and twenty miles. The discovery that artesian wells can be sunk 
successfully has added much’ to the attractiveness of the city. The water is 
almost chemically pure and is forced to a great height by hydrostatic pressure. 
Denver is the objective point for a large tourist travel, and it is estimated that 
the arrivals during the year will average 700 daily. The climate is healthful 
and invigorating, and invalids find this an excellent place to regain their health. 
These is always some pleasing attraction to divert the mind. The theatres are 
open the year round and the best companies and stars from the East appear 
upon their boards. The churches are presided over by clergymen of talent and 
culture. The newspapers are metropolitan in size and management. In a word, 
Denver is one of the most pleasant residence cities in the world. Rapid as has 
been the growth of this wonderful city, it is evident that it is but on the threshold 
of its prosperity, and that the future holds for it much more and greater success 
than has been vouchsafed it in the past. 

Hotels. —Denver to-day is probably better supplied with first-class hotels 
than any city of its population in the known world. Its principal hotel, “The 
Brown Palace,” has been constructed at a cost of a million and a quarter of 
dollars, and probablv has no superior on the continent. The Metropole, Windsor, 
Albany, Oxford and'St. James are all delightful hostelries. It would be impossible 
to name all, but there is no less than forty-three first-class hotels in the city. 
























A 




PALMER LAKE 












5 


CASTLE ROCK—PERRY PARK—PALMER LAKE. 

CASTLE ROCK. 

Picturesque Village. Population, 600. Elevation, 6,220 feet. 

Castle Rock is thirty-three miles south of Denver, on the Denver & Rio 
Cfrande Railroad. It is a picturesque little village and derives its name from a 
bold and remarkable promontory which springs directly from the plain and under 
whose shadow the village stands. This promontory always attracts the attention 
of tourists and is therefore worthy of special mention. 


PERRY PARK. 


Pleasure and Health Resort. 

Perry Park is situated within half an hour’s drive of Larkspur Station 
and in natural attractions has few if any superiors in the State. Bountifully 
supplied with pure and sparkling water and protected on the west by the Front 
range of mountains, it forms a quiet and romantic resting place for those who 
wish a pleasant summer’s outing free from the annoyances of business. The 
Park is filled with many remarkable rock formations equal in unique grandeur 
to those of the better known but not more attractive Garden of the Gods. The 
latter place is entirely arid and therefore uninhabitable, while Perry Park, as has 
been said, is amply provided with water and is a most enjoyable place of resort. 
The walks and drives in the Park and around it give ample variety and the 
accommodations for visitors are excellent. 


PALMER LAKE. 

Pleasure and Health Resort. Population, 250. Elevation, 7,238 feet. 

Palmer Lake is situated on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, about mid¬ 
way between Denver and Pueblo, the two principal towns of Colorado. It was 
formerly called “Divide,” a very significant and appropriate title, as on the crest 
of this summit the waters divide, flowing northward into the Platte, which empties 
into the Missouri, and southward into the Arkansas, as it wends its way to the 
Mississippi. In approaching Palmer Lake from either Denver or Pueblo, the 
traveler will enjoy a most delightful variety of scenery ; on either side are rolling 
plains dotted with numerous herds of sheep and cattle, agricultural settlements 
with cultivated ranches, giving evidence of enterprise and thrift. Now and then 
we catch a glimpse of the river threading its way amid the valleys and glens, 
while stretching away in the distance the cliffs and towering peaks of the Snowy 
Range in their dazzling whiteness appear like fleecy clouds upon the horizon, and 
form a striking contrast with the blue-tinted foot-hills, which, as we near them, 
appear covered with oak shrubbery, bright flowers, castled rocks, scattered pines 
and quaking aspen glimmering in the sunshine. Gradually ascending the mount¬ 
ain pathway, we reach the summit (2,000 feet higher than either Denver or Pueblo), 
and entering a gap in the mountains, before us lies Palmer Lake. Nestled here 
in this mountain scenery, sparkling like a diamond in its emerald setting, this lake 
is a delightful surprise to the tourist—a rare and unlooked for feature in the 
landscape. 

Along the shore of the lake has been placed a substantial stone embankment, 
and in front of the station a neat and tasteful boat-house has been erected and well 
stocked with boats ; these boats are an attractive feature, and will draw many to 
the shores of this beautiful lake. Streets have recently been laid out and planted 
on either side with shade trees, and an abundant supply of the purest water has 
been brought to the town from a mountain source, in iron pipes, under a pressure 
that enables fountains to throw water to a height of eighty feet. As a sanitarium 
Palmer Lake is one of the best in Colorado. 

A number of handsome cottages have been erected here and Palmer Lake 
will soon become one of the most popular summer resorts in Colorado. 

One of the chief attractions of the lake, as a resort for excursionists, is a large 
and commodious dancing pavilion. 




GLEN P^K—COLORADO SPRINGS. 

Hotels.— The Rocklands is a comfortable and handsome building, where 
the visitor will find the comforts of a home combined with the elegance and con¬ 
venience of a first-class establishment. 

Walks and Drives. —Many points of scenic interest surround Palmer Lake, 
easily accessible by a pleasant walk or drive. Among them may be mentioned 
“Phoebe’s Arch,” “Glen D’Eau,” “Bellevue Point” and “Ben Lomond. Perry 
Park, ten miles northwest, abounds in those strange rock forms which render 
Monument Park so attractive. 


GLEN PARK, 

The Colorado Chautauqua, 

is within half a mile of Palmer Lake, in a charming, park-like expanse between 
two mountain streamlets, and at the mouth of a beautiful canon, fifty-three miles 
from Denver. One hundred and fifty acres are comprised in the town site. The 
Park is at the foot of the Rocky Mountain Range, and is sheltered at the rear by 
a towering cliff 2,000 feet high, and on the two sides by small spurs of the range, 
A noble growth of large pines is scattered over the Park. A skillful landscape 
engineer has taken advantage of every natural beauty and studied the best topo- 
graphical effect in laying out the streets, parks, reservoirs, drives, walks, trails ana 
lookout points. It is a spot that must be seen to be appreciated, and every visitor 
whose opinion has been learned has come away captivated. There are building 
sites for all tastes. Some have a grand outlook, taking in a sweep of the valley 
for a distance or fifty miles, with the fountain in Palmer Lake ana the beautiful 
lake itself in full \iew. Elephant Rock, Table Mountain, the town of Monument 
and the railroad trains from both ways for over half an hour before reaching the 
station can be seen. 

There is a handsome auditorium, with a seating capacity of one thousand 
persons, and containing rooms for the offices of the Glen Park Association. A 
number of tasteful cottages have been erected. A large reservoir furnishes an 
ample supply of water for domestic and fountain uses. 

The drives in this vicinity are exceedingly varied and full of interest. The 
walks are numerous and charming. One of the prettiest glens in America is at 
hand and of easy access. The Railroad facilities are everything that could be 
desired, and the proximity to Denver makes it possible for business men to spend 
every day at business and every evening with their friends at the Park. Chau¬ 
tauqua Assembly is held annually. 

COLORADO SPRINGS. 

County Seat of El Paso County. Health Resort. Population, 12,000. Elevation, 5,982 feet* 

This delightful little city is essentially one of homes where the families of 
many of the most influential business men of the State reside. It is a temperance 
town, with charming society and an elegant opera house, built as a place of enjoy¬ 
ment rather than as an investment, by some of the most successful citizens. There 
are many points of scenic interest within an hour’s ride from the city. Among 
them may be mentioned Cheyenne Canons, Austin’s Glen, Blair Athol, Queen’s 
Canon and Glen Eyrie. No more delightful places can be found in which to en¬ 
joy the beautiful in Nature and to breathe the health-giving and exhilarating air 
than these. A full description of their attractions would be alone sufficient to fill 
this book. 

Colorado Springs was laid out as a health resort and its fame as a sanitarium 
is wide-spread and thoroughly deserved. It is sheltered on the west by the range 
of mountains, on the east by bluffs, on the north by a spur of mountains called the 
.Divide and on the southwest by Cheyenne Mountain. The town covers an area 
of four square miles, so there is plenty of ground around most of the houses ; the 
streets are wide and lined with shade trees. The plateau on which Colorado 
Springs is built has two water-courses, dividing on the north and joining on the 
south. The ground has a gentle slope from north to south. The gravel which 
forms the subsoil is extremely porous, so there is a perfect natural drainage. 
















COLORADO CITY—MANITOU SPRINGS. 


8 

Besides the water conveyed in ditches for irrigating, pure cold water is brought in 
iron pipes from Ruxton’s Creek, six miles away on the mountain side, where it is 
free from all contamination. The supply is prac tically unlimited and the pressure 
is such that fire can be extinguished without engines. The dry air, the altitude 
and the climatic conditions make this one of the best resorts in the world for 
those suffering from consumption. Physicians of the highest character assure the 

E ublic that this climate is a sure cure for consumption, if the invalid will come 
efore the disease has progressed too far. The death rate is very low, being 5.6 
per 1,000; from zymotic diseases, 1.6 per 1,000. 

Broadmoor Casino. —Located at the mouth of Cheyenne Canon. Beautiful 
grounds surround the Casino building, with a lovely little lake covered with 
graceful boats. A celebrated orchestra discources sweet music at afternoon and 
evening concerts during the season. 

Hotels. —The Antlers is one of the leading hotels of the State. It is a stone 
structure, built in the Queen Anne style, and is a prominent object as seen from 
the railroad. It has extensive parks and grounds. The Alamo Hotel is exceed¬ 
ingly popular and entertains a fine class of patrons. The Grand View Hotel is 
another excellent hostelry with good patronage. It commands a fine view 
of the mountains and Pike’s Peak. There are a number of smaller hotels and a 
good supply of comfortable and home-like boarding-houses, in different parts of 
the town ; also fine livery stables, where riding and driving horses and carriages 
of the best are furnished at reasonable prices. 


COLORADO CITY. 


Population, 2,500. Elevation, 6,110 feet. 

Colorado City, the first territorial capital of Colorado, and at present a thriv¬ 
ing railroad town, is situated on the D. & R. G. R. R., midway between Colorado 
Springs and Manitou Springs, seventy-eight miles from Denver/ When Colorado 
City lost its title as territorial capital, its business suffered severely and the town 
fell into decay. This condition of affairs lasted for a number of years, but 
recently the erection of railroad shops and the establishment of new business 
enterprises aroused the old town from its lethargy and it is now on the high road 
to great prosperity. 


MANITOU SPRINGS. 

Watering-Place. Population, 2,000. Elevation, 6,318 feet. 

Of all Nature’s lovely spots few equal and none surpass in beauty of location* 
grandeur of surroundings and sublimity of scenery this veritableGem of the 
Rockies.” As a pleasure resort it presents to the tourist more objects of scenic 
interest than any resort of a like character in the old or new world, while its won? 
derful effervescent and mineral springs, soda and iron, make it the favorite resting 
place for invalids. The great superiority of Manitou’s climate is found in its dry¬ 
ness and the even temperature the year round. In summer the cool breezes from 
the mountains temper the heat, the nights always being cool enough to allow that 
refreshing sleep so grateful to all and most needed by the invalid. So bracing is 
the air and free from enervating influences that a case of sunstroke is unknown 
in Manitou. The elevation is over a mile above sea-level and the pure dry air of 
the mountains is particularly strengthening to all who suffer from throat or lung 
troubles and is a specific for asthma or hay fever. 

The winter months are warm and pleasant, so warm that excursions are 
almost daily made to the neighboring canons and glens, where outdoor picnics 
are held with the same impunity as in summer. For several hours in the majority 
of winter days, invalids can sit out of doors without extra wraps; so strong is the 




MANITOU SPRINGS. 


9 

sun’s heat that sun-shades are grateful. The mercury at this season of the year 
daily goes to sixty, seventy and seventy-five degrees above zero in the shade, and 
snow is never sufficient for sleighing; so light and rare is the fall of snow, which, 
under the warm influence of a Colorado sun, seldom lasts more than a day, that 
during the spring no period of melting snow is to be shunned, as in other climates. 
The winters here are exempt from a long train of diseases common to the lower 
elevations of the east, the high altitude, sparkling water and pure, dry mountain 
air rendering malaria, fevers, cholera and epidemic diseases- almost unknown. 
The invalid will find health and strength returning to him, while those who are in 
good health find in Manitou immunity from sickness and an abundance of enjoy¬ 
ment. The tourist visits this resort for pleasure, the invalid for health, and bom 
find their wishes gratified. 

Manitou is situated six miles west of Colorado Springs, immediately at the 
foot of Pike’s Peak. Here are the celebrated effervescent soda and iron springs, 
which in an early day gave the name “ Springs ” to the town of Colorado Springs. 
A branch railroad unites the two places, over which trains runs daily with sufficient 
frequency to accommodate the most exacting. Once domiciled in Manitou the 
way to enjoy it to the utmost is in the saddle. The riding horses are excellent; 
comfortable saddles for ladies and well-trained horses are furnished by all the 
livery stables. A Pike’s Peak burro (donkey) brigade is a feature for the special 
benefit of the children, a careful guide taking the little ones for a ride every 
morning. There are more points of interest near Manitou than any other watering- 
place in the world. Following is a partial list with the distance in miles from 
town attached: 

Ruxton Creek to Iron Springs and 
Hotel, - - - - - - 

Ute Pass to Rainbow Falls and Grand 

Caverns,'. 

Red Canon,. 

Crystal Park.. 

Garden of the Gods, ... 

Glen Eyrie,. 

Monument Park, by trail, 

In addition to these well-known localities, there are scores of canons, caves, 
water-falls, and charming nooks which the sojourner, for health or pleasure, can 
seek out for himself. The village is thronged with visitors throughout the sum¬ 
mer months ; it is somewhat cooler and less dry than Colorado Springs in the 
summer and warmer in winter. The springs all contain more or less soda and 
some iron. They are peculiarly adapted for the dyspepsia of the consumptive 
and the Iron Ute Springs is specially remarkable for its blood-making qualities. 
This water is bottled and supplied to dealers throughout the country. For the 
pleasure-seeker and the invalid, Manitou is one of the most satisfactory resorts in 
the State. During the season the hotels are filled with guests from all parts 
of the Union. Society is represented by many of its best people, the evenings are 
made merry with hops and social gatherings and the days delightful with drives 
and rides and walks among the myriad of attractions this place affords. 

Manitou in Winter. —Sheltered on all sides from the harsh winds of winter, 
Manitou is especially adapted to the wants of those who wish to escape the rigors 
of this season in the East. The trees being denuded of their foliage, offer no 
obstruction to the full power of the sun’s rays, which, reflected from the rocks, 
raise the temperature to pleasant warmth. The society at Manitou is excellent 
and the places of interest which may be visited numerous, thus adding to the 
pleasures of a winter residence there. 

The Mineral Springs are good for the following diseases: Acid dyspepsia, 
sour stomach, pyrosis, flatulency, kidney complaints, smarting, stinging pains in 
the back, bladder complaints, Bright’s disease, diabetes, weakness from any cause, 
loss of appetite or strength, consumption, etc. 

In the city limits are nine cold mineral springs. These may be divided into 
two groups. The soda spring—resembling in taste and properties the Apollinaris 
water—and the iron springs. 


Monument Park, by carriage, 9 

1 Seven Lakes, by horse trail, - 9 

“ “ by carriage road, 25 

1 Vt. North Cheyenne Canon, - 8 % 

3 South Cheyenne Canon, 9 

3 Summit of Pike’s Peak, by rail, - 9 

3 “ “ “ by trail, - 13 

5 Williams Canon, - 2 

7 'A 



40 


PLACES OF INTEREST NEAR MANITOU. 


Analysis of the Mineral Springs. 


By O. Leow, Mineralogist and Chemist of the Wheeler Expedition. 

IN A PINT OF THE SPRING WATER THERE ARE CONTAINED IN GRAINS: 


ft-.".. - - -=- 

NAVAJO. 

MANITOU. 

SHOSHONE. 

IRON. 

LITTLE 

CHIEF. 

Carbonate of soda, - 

“ lithia, 

“ lime, 

“ magnesia, - 

" iron, - 

Sulphate of potash, 

“ soda, - * * - 

Chloride of sodium, ... 

Silica, - - .... 

8 3-4 
1-50 

9 I-I 7 

2 i-S 
trace. 

1 1-7 

1 1-4 

2 3-4 
1-10 

3 i -3 
1-67 

7 3-4 

1 1-2 

I I- S 
trace. 

7 3-5 

4 i -7 
trace. 

4 1-8 

1 1-50 

2-5 

1-2 

2 i -5 

1 i -5 

i -5 

I I-17 
trace. 

5 i -4 

1 

1-8 

1-3 

3 3-5 

3 i -3 
i -7 

1 

1 2-3 

2 1-3 
i -7 

i -3 

2 3-5 

3 

trace. 

Total solid constituents, 

Gases, - . 

Degrees of Fahrenheit, - 

25 i -3 

18 1-5 

Free. 

56 deg. 

carbonic. 

19 3-4 
carbonic. 
48.5 deg. 

i 5 

50.2 deg. 

43 deg. 


Hotels. —Manitou is well provided with hotels and the accommodations are 
of a very superior quality, equal in every respect to the best hotels of the most 
popular watering-places of the East. The leading hoscelnes, with their capacity 
in sleeping rooms, are named in the annexed list: 


Barker Hotel,.200 I Cliff House,.350 

The Mansions,.300 I Manitou House,.250 

Iron Springs Hotel, - - - - 150 

There are in addition to the above many excellent small hotels, besides cot* 
tages which may be rented for a period of weeks or months. 


PLACES OF INTEREST NEAR MANITOU. 

The Garden of the Gods has been described and photographed more 
than any other place of scenic interest in Colorado, but words or pictures fail to 
give even the faintest idea of its wealth of gorgeous color, or of the noble view 
which its gateway frames. The portals of this famed gateway spring from the 
level plain to a height of three hundred and thirty feet and glow with the most 
brilliant coloring of red. There is an outer parapet of pure white and there are 
inner columns of varied hues, the whole suggesting the ruins of a vast temple, 
once the receptacle of the sacred shrine of the long-buried gods. Within the 
Garden the rocks assume strange mimetic forms, and the imagination of the 
spectator is kept busy discovering resemblances to figures of beasts and birds, 
of men and women and of strange freaks in architecture. 

Glen Eyrie is situated at the entrance of Queen’s Canon and is a wild and 
romantic retreat in which is built the summer residence of a gentleman of wealth 
whose permanent home is now in the East. Within the glen, v hich is made 
sylvan by thickly-growing native shrubbery, covered with wild clematis, are a 
great confusion of enormous pillars of exquisitely tinted pink sandstone. 

Cathedral Rock and the Major Domo, which have gained a world-wide 
fame through pictures and descriptions, are to be found in Glen Eyrie, as are also 
“The Sisters,” “Vulcan’s Anvil” and “Melrose Abbey.” These are all grand 
and impressive shapes of stone glowing with the most brilliant hues of red and 
pink, of cream and white and umber. 

Blair Athol is about a mile north of Glen Eyrie and resembles the latter, 
with the exception of shrubbery and water. No residence has been erected here, 
as the difficulty of obtaining water has been too great to be successfully overcome. 
The quaint forms of rock and their wealth of brilliant color, together with the fre¬ 
quent shade of evergreen trees, make this an interesting and attractive spot. 





























BIRD S-EYE VIEW OF MANITOU. 











































































































































































































































































12 


PLACES OF INTEREST NEAR MANITOU. 


Bear Creek Canon is reached by taking the road to Colorado Springs and 
turning to the right just before reaching Colorado City. This is a beautiful drive 
of five miles, at the end of which the government trail to Pike’s Peak carries the 
horsemen and footmen to the summit. The Canon is a picturesque wooded glen 
with a dashing torrent and abounding in wild flowers. Bears are still frequently 
seen here, but they shrink modestly from forcing their attentions upon strangers, 
and retire precipitately when made aware of the vicinity of callers. 

The Cheyenne Canons are favorite resorts for picnic and pleasure parties. 
Both these Canons give one a good idea of the gorges which abound in the fast¬ 
nesses of the Rocky Mountains. They are deep gashes in the heart of Cheyenne 
Mountain and display grand faces of magnificent red granite hundreds of feet 
in height. The Douglas spruce, the Rocky Mountain pine, the white spruce, and 
that most lovely tree of all, the Picea Grandis, grow in great numbers in both 
canons, while the Virginia creeper, two species of clematis (mauve and white) 
and other climbers add grace and charm to the scene. A stairway at the Seven 
Falls in South Cheyenne Canon leads to the last resting place of “ H. H.,” Helen 
Hunt Jackson, who selected this spot for her grave. The stream in North Chey¬ 
enne Canon is larger than that in the southern gorge, but the latter forms a mag¬ 
nificent cascade descending five hundred feet in seven leaps. 

Seven Falls is the name given to the cascade referred to above and it is 
Well worthy of the admiration its beauty always excites. 

The Cheyenne Mountain Toll-Road is well worth seeing. It ascends 
the mountains about one-half mile south of the entrance to South Cheyenne 
Canon, winding for about ten miles, with easy grades, through very fine scenery, 
and at times affording glimpses down in the canon below. 

The Seven Lakes are reached by means of the last described road. The 
lakes are picturesque, as such sheets of water usually are among the mountains, 
and there is a hotel for the accommodation of visitors. 

“ My Garden ” is a very favorite resort, discovered by “ H. H.,” the authoress 
and poet. Take the Cheyenne road one and a half miles from Colorado Springs, 
then follow due south past Broad Moor dairy farm half a mile, then through a 
gate across the “ Big Hollow,” and “ My Garden ” is reached, a lovely pine grove 
crowning a plateau, with an exquisite view of the range behind it. 

Monument Park, Edgerton station, sixty-seven miles south from Denver 
and eight miles northward from Colorado Springs and Manitou, is a pleasant 
day’s excursion. “ The Pines,” a comfortable hotel, situated in the center of the 
Park, one-half mile from the depot, commanding a fine view of Pike’s Peak and 
Cheyenne Mountain Range, is open at all times for the accommodation of guests 
and can furnish saddle-horses and carriages on premises. This park is chiefly 
remarkable for its very fantastic forms, in which time and the action of air and 
water have worn the cream-colored sandstone rocks, which the valleys have 
exposed, forming grotesque groups of figures, some of them resembling human 
beings, viz.: Dutch Wedding, Quaker Meeting, Lone Sentinel, Dutch Parliament, 
Vulcan’s Anvil and Workshop, Romeo and Juliet, Necropolis or Silent City, The 
Duchess, Mother Judy and Colonnade; all of these and many others too numerous 
to mention are within easy walking distance of “ The Pines.” 

Templeton’s Gap. —A very pleasant drive can be taken to Templeton’s 
Gap, which is situated just north of Austin’s Bluffs, and is a sharp depression in 
the surrounding hills characterized by quaint monumental forms of rock. 

Ute Pass leads westward from Manitou over the range into South Park. It 
is now a wagon road cut in many places from the face of the cliff, the rocks 
towering thousands of feet above it on one side, and on the other presenting a 
sheer descent of nearly as many feet down to where the Fountain brawls along 
over its rugged channel. The Pass was formerly used as a pony trail by the Ute 
Indians in their descents to the plains and in their visits to the “ Big Medicine ” of 
the healing springs—the name given Manitou by the aborigines. No pleasanter 
ride or drive can be taken than up Ute Pass. The scenery is grand and the 
view one of great loveliness. 

Rainbow Falls are only a mile and a half from Manitou up the Pass, and 
are well worthy of a visit. They are the most accessible and the most beautiful 


PLACES OF INTEREST NEAR MANITOU. 


13 

falls on the eastern slope of the Rockies and are visited by thousands of tourists 
every season. 

The Manitou Grand Caverns have added an attractive feature to the 
diversified wonders of nature surrounding Manitou Springs. 

The caverns are located one and a half miles from Manitou Springs. They 
Were discovered by their present owner, Mr. George W. Snider, in the year 1881, 
but were only opened to the public in 1885. 

The route to the caverns takes us up the historic and beautiful Ute Pass to a 
point beyond Rainbow Falls, where the road turns to the right and climbs by 
an easy grade to the elevated spur above. Much labor and money have been 
expended to make this avenue of approach the best of any of the famous drives 
in the surrounding region. 

Unlike Mammoth Cave or the Luray Caverns of Virginia, the Manitou Grand 
Caverns are located amid the most superb scenery. Directly in front, as we 
stand at the portal. Pike’s Peak is reared above the lesser domes of the Rockies, 
its majestic snowy crest standing out boldly against the clear sky. Below is the 
winding road by which we have come, and, by a moment’s walk along the slope 
southward, a view is obtained hardly to be surpassed within the whole range of 
the mountains. Deep and shadowy Williams Canon is at our feet, and in the 
valley far below, nestled at the gateway of the Pass, is Manitou Springs. Out 
upon the plain beyond the mesa, we note Colorado Springs, and gaze across the 
vast level expanse beyond as one looks out upon the sea. 

It is not possible, within our limited space, to adequately convey an idea of 
the varied chambers, avenues and by-ways of the Caverns. 

In the Bee Line vestibule stands the Grant Monument, which is being built by 
visitors from loose stone at hand. 

There are three routes from the vestibule to choose from, leading to separate 
groups of chambers. In Canopy Avenue, the student of Geology will be inter¬ 
ested in the fossils and well-defined animal remains discovered. This avenue 
terminates in Stalactite* Hall. The guide calls attention successively to the 
Duck’s Head, Wax Candles, Ape, Snow Owl, Banyan Tree, Broken Column, the 
Wreck and Horse-shoe Tunnel. 

Again, finding the vestibule, we pass through the narrows, and passing the 
cascade, enter the Rotunda, stalagmites springing from the floor to meet the 
pendant stalactites that grace the ceiling. There is much in this fairy chamber 
to suggest the famed crystal caves of Bellamar, near Matanzas, Cuba. 

A great chamber, with a ceiling not less than sixty feet from the level floor, 
has been named the Opera House. Here is the grandpa and grandchild and 
Andromeda, still chained to the rock. 

»Passing beneath the Natural Bridge, galleries are reached by a stairway 
leading to the superb Guadaloupe Dome and 

Concert Hall. This room contains the most marvelous feature of the 
caverns. The visitor, upon entering, faces the organ loft, thirty feet from the floor, 
where, as though built in the wall of the cavern, stands the famous stalactite organ, 
formed of clear stalactites from a few inches to several feet in length and one- 
fourth to three-fourths of an inch in thickness. This natural instrument, under 
the touch of a player, gives the full musical scale and is played by the guide, 
rendering pleasing airs resembling in tone the beautiful chimes of a village 
church. 

Near by is the priest in his cap and robes of white. The ceiling of this 
grand apartment, which is said to extend five hundred feet, bears the well- 
defined imprint of an enormous foot. 

With a too-hasty glance at the Pond Lilies, Massive Curtains and Cauliflower 
Garden, we again seek the vestibule and explore the third avenue and its 
wonders. This devious passage has been humorously called the D. & R. G. 
Narrow Guage. Upon the left is Hooper’s Vineyard, so called in honor of the 
General Passenger Agent of the railroad just named. 

Hanging Rock, caught in the grip of the cleft above our heads, is noticed 
with* some trepidation, and then we are in the presence of Rainbow Falls, or the 
Interior Cascade, and then the Fairy Bridal Chamber. Now look at the Wet 


14 


PLACES OF INTEREST NEAR MANITOU. 


Blanket, and now from the midst of a pearly confusion of forms we are shown 
the Elk’s Head, Chicken’s Head, Man on Horseback, Rocky Mountain Sheep, 
and a score of strangely natural creations of the silent trickling waters, which 
attest the wondrous beauty of Nature’s laws. 

The Manitou Grand Caverns are open throughout the entire year, the temper¬ 
ature within being uniformly comfortable. 

No visitor to the now celebrated springs of Manitou should leave without 
devoting an hour or so to their inspection. 

Manitou Park is reached by a ride of twenty miles up Ute Pass and is a 
favorite resort for tourists. Hunting and fishing are excellent here and good 
accommodations are to be had. Those who enjoy camping will find this a partic¬ 
ularly pleasing and satisfactory place. 

Williams Canon is within ten minutes walk of any of the hotels and is 
situated northwest of the town. It is picturesque in the extreme. Its lofty walls 
of vari-colored rocks, broken into battlements and towers and soaring pinnacles, 
are a never-ending source of surprise and delight. 

The Cave of the Winds is situated in Williams Canon. 

Engleman’s Canon is southwest of Manitou and is within the limits of a 
quiet stroll. So great have been the improvements in this canon within the last 
two years that it is deserving of special mention. In fact, this is almost a second 
Manitou among the hills. The spring itself has also felt the hand of improve¬ 
ment and all the surroundings show the influence of capital wisely employed to 
enhance the beauties of nature. In the center of all these beauties stands the 
Iron Springs Hotel. 

Pike’s Peak Trail. —The ascent of Pike’s Peak is made by following the 
trail beyond the Iron Springs. The scenery is superb and the trip can be made 
on horseback the entire distance. It can be accomplished in six hours and the 
grand view from the summit will thoroughly repay the tourist for all the expense 
and fatigue of the trip. 

Carriage Road to the Peak. — An excellent carriage road has been 
completed to the summit of Pike’s Peak, affording those who desire the easiest 
method of ascent an opportunity to behold the magnificent view, with a minimum 
of fatigue. 

Red Ca$on is so called from the brilliant color of its rocks, which are stained 
in the deepest crimson. It is three miles east of Manitou and is reached by 
taking the road to Colorado Springs and turning to the right about a mile west 
of Colorado City. 

Crystal Park is fifteen hundred feet above Manitou and immediately 
south of the city. There is a wagon road leading to the Park four miles 
long. On the trip there are many places from which Manitou and Colorado 
Springs can be seen. Perpendicular cliffs seem to touch the clouds and it is 
wonderful for its thousand varied scenes and distant views. The entrance is 
through a narrow gorge and once inside a grand spectacle greets the eye. A 
level plateau of land is seen, largely covered by young and thrifty pine trees; 
two streams cross this plateau and unite near the gateway. The park is bordered 
by high bluffs and mountains. Cameron’s Cone is boldly outlined against the skv 
at the southwest. 1 

The Mesa Road is a beautiful drive of five miles. It is best reached, from 
Manitou, by way of the Garden of the Gods. Turning to the right from the lodge 
gates of Glen Eyrie, the road ascends the great bluff and reaches the summit of 
the mesa, hence its name. This plateau is as level as a table, and the road for 
three miles rivals in smoothness the most perfect of boulevards. The view from 
the mesa is grand and comprehensive and no one should omit from his pro¬ 
gramme a drive over this road between Manitou and Colorado Springs. 

The Manitou Bath-House. —Manitou is provided with one of the largest 
and most complete bath-houses in Colorado. The building is an ornament to the 
town, being in the Queen Anne style of architecture and supplied with all the 
modern improvements. Baths furnished with the healing waters of the mineral 
springs can be taken at any degree of temperature and under the directions of a 
physician and skilled attendants. 


15 


THE PIKE'S PEAK RAILROAD. 

THE PIKE’S PEAK RAILROAD. 

The Cog Wheel Railroad to the summit of Pike’s Peak, which was completed 
and put in operation on July 1st, 1891, is the most novel railway in the world. 
When it reaches its objective point above the clouds, at a height of 14,147 feet 
above sea-level, it renders almost insignificant, by comparison, the famous cog. 
way up Mt. Washington and the incline railway up the Rhigi in Switzerland, 
r rom its station in Manitou, just above the Iron Springs, to the station on the 
summit of Pike s Peak, the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Railway is just eight and three- 
quarter miles in length. The cost of construction of the road was a half million 
of dollars. While it could have been built for many thousands of dollars less by 
P r Utt u ng u m -iT. oodei ? brid S es and trestles, light ties and light rails, those in charge 
of the building of the road would not consent to the use of any flimsy material 
for the sake of the saving of any sum of money—a substantial road that would 
insure absolute safety being economical, as well as a guarantee for putting the road 
from the start on a paying basis. The road-bed is solid and from fifteen to twenty 
feet wide, leaving fully five feet on each side of the cars. The culverts are solid 
masonry; the four short bridges are of iron girders resting on first-class masonry 
There are an extra number of ties which are extra heavy and extra long. The 



THE MOUNTAIN CLIMBER. 


rails are standard “T” rails with a double cog rail in the center. This cog rail 
weighs one hundred and ten tons to the mile, which is unusually heavy. The 
rail is built in sections, each being put into a lathe and the teeth cut. The con¬ 
tract requires that each tooth shall be within the fiftieth part of an inch of the 
size specified. At intervals of every two hundred feet the track is anchored to 
solid masonry to prevent any possibility of the track slipping from its bed. The 
cars are designed to hang low—within eighteen inches of the rails. Each engine, 
built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, has three cog and pinion appliances, 
which can be worked together or independently. In each cog appliance is a double 
set of pinion brakes that work in the cog, either one of which when used can stop 
the engine in ten inches, going either way, on any grade and at the maximum 
speed, eight miles an hour. The cars are not tilted, but the seats are arranged 
so as to give the passenger a level sitting. The engine pushes the cars, instead 
of drawing them, which is of great advantage in the fact that the passengers’ eyes 
are not constantly menaced by cinders. The cars also work independently of 
engine and can be let down alone if necessary. One hundred people make a 
load for the train and about three hours are consumed in making the trip. Stops 
are made at interesting points on the way up. Three trips per day are made, and 
a visit to the summit of the grand old mountain can be made in half a day with 
ease and comfort. 

















GRAND SCENERY OF THE ASCENT—PUEBLO. 


16 


GRAND SCENERY OF THE ASCENT. 

As the ascent is made, many opportunities are given, for exquisite views of 
the world below, through vistas in the trees, with the eastern plains glowing in 
the sunshine, and extending as far as vision reaches, and limited only by the blue 
horizon’s verge. About half way up the mountain and directly on the line of the 
railway, reached also by the trail, lies the Half-way House. 

When the head-waters of Ruxton Creek are reached, the road curves to the 
southwest, and “Windy Point” is attained. From here one has a distinct view of 
Manitou, Colorado City and Colorado Springs. The “Cathedral Spires” and the 
“Great Gateway” of the Garden of the Gods appear like the castles set by the 
giants for a stupendous game of chess. We are now far above timber-line. On 
all sides can be seen strange flowers, of lovely forms and varied hues. Plants 
which attain considerable proportions on the plains are here reduced to their 
lowest terms. It is not an unusual thing to find a sunflower-stalk on the prairies 
rising to a height of from eight to ten feet; here they grow like dandelions in the 
grass, yet retaining all their characteristics of form and color. Beyond this 
mountain meadow are great fields of disintegrated granite, broken cubes of pink 
rock, so vast in extent that they might well be the ruins of all the ancient cities 
in the world. Far below flash the waters of Lake Morain, and beyond, to the 
southward, lie the Seven Lakes. Another turn of the track to the northward, and 
the shining rails stretch almost straight up what appears to be an inaccessible 
wall of precipitous granite. But no physical obstruction is formidable enough to 
stop the progress of this marvelous railway; and, passing the yawning abyss of 
the “Crater,” the line proceeds direct to the summit. The grade here is one of 
twenty-live per cent, and timid passengers will not escape a thrill of fear as they 
gaze over the brink of this precipice, although the danger is absolutely nothing. 
At last the summit is reached, and, disembarking, the tourists can seek refresh¬ 
ments in the hotel and then spend the time before the train returns in enjoying 
the view and in rambling over the seventy acres of broken granite which form 
the summit. 

Pike’s Peak has long been an object of admiration to the world because of 
its commanding position and the glamour thrown around it by history and tra¬ 
dition. Authors have expended all their skill in describing it and poets have 
sung its praises. Among the more recent poetical tributes to this monarch of the 
range is the following sonnet by Prof. William H. Tibbols: 

Into the boundless air so thin and cold, 

Far up above the line of living green, 

Rises thy granite peak, gray, grand, serene. 

Thy seamed sides, all broken, rugged, bold, 

Speak of volcanic ages yet untold, 

And tow’ring high through riven clouds is seen 
Thy summit glistening in the sunlight sheen, 

All undisturbed by storms that thee enfdld. 

The morning sun gilds first thy top. His last 
Ray fires thy crest—an oriflamme it seems, 

While shadows deepen over vale and plain. 

In thy deep chasms th’ eternal snows held fast 
Keep ever fresh and full the living streams, 

That in cascades now fall and fall again. 

The majesty of greatness and the mystery of minuteness are here brought 
face to face. The thoughtful mind is awed by the contemplation of this scene, and 
when the reflection comes that these great spaces are but grains of sand on an 
infinite shore of creation, and that there are worlds of beauty as vast and varied 
between the tiny flowers and the ultimate researches of the microscope as those 
which exist on an ascending scale between the flowers and the great globe itself, 
the mind is overwhelmed with wonder and admiration. 


PUEBLO. 

Manufacturing and Commercial City. Population, 40,000. Elevation, 4,667 feet. 

Pueblo lies on both sides of the Arkansas River in a basin surrounded on 
three sides by mountain ranges, but at a distance of thirty miles from the foot¬ 
hills. The original town was a trading-post in early days, at the junction of the 
Fountain qui Bouille, or boiling spring, with the Arkansas. 



PUEBLO. 


1 7 

Up‘6n the arrival of its first railroad, the Denver & Rio Grande, in 1874, the 
town grew quite rapidly, and the new town of South Pueblo was organized, now 
consolidated with Pueblo proper, making in population the second city of the 
State. The awakening of the mining interest of the State, as witnessed in the 
rapid growth of Leadville and the development of the coal, iron and other min¬ 
eral territory tributary to Pueblo, settled the destiny of this locality as the future 
Pittsburg of the West. 

Near Pueblo are excellent quarries of limestone for manufacturing and build¬ 
ing purposes. West, some thirty miles, are the famous Canon coal fields, con- 
taming the best fuel for domestic and steam-heating purposes found west of 
Pennsylvania. Low altitude, cheap fuel and close proximity to the many mineral 
districts of the State, make this location the natural point for all kinds of manu¬ 
facturing. 

Three extensive smelting works located here produce great quantities of lead 
and silver bullion, refined lead, silver, gold and copper. Here are located the 
large steel works of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, where the visitor can see 
in course of manfacture pig-iron, Bessemer steel rails, steel and iron nails, castings 
and merchant bar-iron, all from Colorado ores. Every material used in the manu¬ 
facture of iron in many forms is found near Pueblo. Besides these there are 
numerous foundries, machine shops and various other manufacturing establish¬ 
ments. A woolen mill, a glass factory and furniture factory are among the new 
enterprises now in hand. 

Pueblo is the center of the Rio Grande Railroad system, which, with its three 
rails for standard and narrow-gauge cars and its sixteen hundred miles of rock- 
ballasted road-bed penetrates the mountain fastnesses of the Rockies, and brings 
down hill to Pueblo, from all points of the compass, the products of the vast 
mineral fields of the State, here to be transmitted^nto articles of utility, or to be 
transhipped across the plains. 

The Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf Railway, completed and opened through 
to the Gulf, March 28, 1888, opens another immense territory for the output 
of her mineral product and places her within one thousand miles of ocean 
commerce. 

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fd and the Missouri Pacific roads give Pueblo 
direct communication with other eastern points, and the Rock Island Railroad 
rounds out the trio. 

Situated midway between the farming regions lying eastward and the hundreds 
of mining camps of the Rockies, Pueblo presents not only an inviting field for all 
kinds of mercantile enterprises, which makes it a prominent wholesale point, but 
with its low altitude, equable climate and warm magnetic mineral springs, supe¬ 
rior hotel accommodations and every facility for enjoyment, it is one of the best 
winter resorts for invalids to be found in the Union. 

The level mesa on the south and the broken hills in the northern portion of 
the city are delightful locations for homes and public parks. 

The social, educational and religious interests are well attended to and all 
tourists will remember with pleasure their visit to the city. 

Hotels.—The Grand is among the best hotels in the West. It is entirely 
new and newly and elegantly furnished, being opened in September, 1887. The 
house is beautifully located, sufficiently retired to be pleasant for tourists and yet 
convenient to the business part of the city. The street cars pass the door for all 
points. The accommodations at the Grand are equal to the best hotels in New 
York or Boston; it has all modern conveniences, baths, electric bells and lights, 
elevators and steam heat. The cuisine is of the best and the service unsurpassed. 
Special rates are made to those remaining any considerable length of time. _ The 
St. James (formerly Numa), under new management, has been refurnished 
complete and is now very popular with the traveler and tourist. The Vic¬ 
toria Hotel commands an excellent patronage. There is also a most excel¬ 
lent eating-house and hotel in the Union Depot, conducted by Mr. E. A. Thayer, 
who has the management of all the hotels on the main line of the Denver & Rio 
Grande R. R., the reputation of which is surpassed by none. The Farris Hotel 
is also recommended to the public as satisf?xtory in every respect, both as to rates 
and the rccommodations offered, 


i8 


VETA PASS—TRINIDAD. 


Through Pueblo the tourist passes to reach Espanola, Durango and Silverton 
on the south, Leadville on the northwest, or Gunnison, Grand Junction, Salt Lake 
City and Ogden on the western route for San Francisco. 

Parnassus Springs. —A pleasant drive of twelve miles, southwest from 
Pueblo, takes us to Parnassus Springs, among the foot-hills of the Greenhorn 
Mountains. These waters—muriated alkaline—have been tested with marked 
benefit, especially in cases characterized as gastric complaints. 

Carlisle Springs are situated twenty miles above Pueblo, on the Arkansas 
River. These purgative alkaline waters areas yet unimproved, but give good 
promise of becoming popular on account of their medicinal qualities. 

Clark’s Magnetic Mineral Spring.— This celebrated spring has a large 
and elegant bath-house, fitted up with all the latest improvements and con¬ 
veniences for bathing. Good hotel accommodations have also been added 
convenient to the spring, which, with the marvelous curative properties of the 
water, low altitude, fine climate and railroad connections with all points, make it 
the most desirable health resort in the West. The water is used both internally 
and externally; it is clear, bright and agreeable to the taste as it issues from the 
spring at a temperature of 8o° Fahrenheit, being readily absorbed by the system, 
and agreeable and soothing to the dyspeptic. This water has acquired a national 
reputation for curing Bright’s disease of the kidneys. 


VETA PASS. 

The ascent of this famous pass is one of the great engineering achievements 
of the Denver & Rio Grande'Railroad. The line follows the ravine formed by a 
small stream, La Veta Mountain rising on the right. At the head of this gulch is 
the wonderful “ Muleshoe Curve,” the sharpest curve of the kind known in rail¬ 
road engineering. In the center of the bend is a bridge, and the sparkling waters 
of the mountain stream can be seen flashing and foaming in their rocky bed 
below. Standing on the rear platform of the Pullman car, as the train rounds 
the curve, the tourist can see the engineer and fireman attending to their duties. 

From this point the ascent of “Dump Mountain” begins, rocks and precipi¬ 
tous escarpments of shaly soil to the right and perpendicular cliffs and chasms 
to the left. The ascent is slowly made, two great Mogul engines urging their 
iron sinews to the giant task. 

The view to the eastward is one of great extent and magnificence. The 
plains stretch onward to the dim horizon line like a gently undulating ocean, from 
which rises the twin cones of the Wahatoya, strangely fascinating in their sym¬ 
metrical beauty. At the summit of the pass the railroad reaches an elevation of 
9,393 feet above the sea. 

Veta Mountain is to the right, as the ascent of the pass is made, and rises 
with smooth sides and splintered pinnacles to a height of 11,176 feet above the 
sea level. The stupendous proportions of this mountain, the illimitable expanse 
of plains, the symmetrical cones of the Spanish peaks presents a picture upon 
which it is a never-ceasing delight for the eye to dwell. The train rolls steadily 
forward on its winding course, at last reaching the apex, glides into the timber 
and halts at the handsome stone station over 9,000 feet above the level of the dis¬ 
tant sea. The downward journey is past Sierra Blanca and old Fort Garland and 
through that pastoral and picturesque valley known as San Luis Park. 


TRINIDAD. 

Commercial and Manufacturing City. Population, 10,000. Elevation, 5,994 feet. 

The City of Trinidad is situated on the Southern extension of the D. & R. 
G. R. R., two hundred and eleven miles from Denver, and being the largest city in 
Southern Colorado, is the trade and money center for an immense territory, including 
portions of Northern Texas, Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. In 





OJO CALIENTE. ig 

natural resources, Trinidad is exceedingly rich, being the center of the largest 
coal belt in the world and the supply depot for all the coke used in the Great 
West. In addition to coal and coke in the immediate vicinity, iron exists in 
unlimited quantities. The supply of gypsum, granite, alum, fire-clay, silica, grit, 
or grindstone, limestone and the finest of building stone is absolutely inexhaust¬ 
ible. Trinidad, from the natural deposits alone, must of necessity become a 
manufacturing center of vast importance and has already taken advance steps 
in this regard. A $ 200,000 rolling mill is now under way. The manufacture of 
cement, mineral paint, lime and plaster of paris are all important industries, while 
the production of building brick is very large in its proportions. Fire-brick 
and silica brick will soon be an additional industry. In and around Trinidad no 
less than three thousand laborers are now employed, and this large and daily 
increasing number of men spend their money in Trinidad. The city has water¬ 
works, gas-works, electric light, street cars and other metropolitan improvements. 
The schools and churches are very superior, while the business houses and resi¬ 
dences are a credit to the city. Situated five thousand, nine hundred and ninty-four 
feet above the level of the sea, insures a delightful climate, free from malaria and 
other poisons common to lower altitudes, while the scenic surroundings are unsur¬ 
passed. Trinidad is a railroad center, with three great trunk lines already in 
operation, with three more moving toward it. Trinidad is the most important wool 
center in Colorado, being the original market for 3,000,000 pounds. / The city is 
also a great cattle center and, for that reason, the largest hide and pelt-receiving 
point of the State. Woolen mills and tanneries are a certainty. To-day Trinidad 
is enjoying an unprecedented growth, doing more building than any other city, in 
proportion to population, between the Mississippi River and Pacific Ocean. It is 
a point of interest on the “ Scenic Line of the World,” which none can afford 
to pass without at least a visit. 

Hotels. —Trinidad is well supplied with accommodations for the public. 
Among its hotels may be mentioned the Southern, the Grand Union, the Trinidad 
and the United States. 


OJO CALIENTE. 

Health Resort—Hot Springs. Population, 300. Elevation, 7,324 feet. 

The celebrated hot springs of Ojo Caliente, New Mexico, are situated eleven 
miles west of Barranca, a station a few miles north of the entrance to Comanche 
Canon, on the southern extension of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, and 
sixty-four miles south of Antonito. Stages to and from the springs conneet with 
passenger trains, making quick time over an excellent road. The altitude of the 
springs is about seven thousand feet and the climate at all seasons of the year 
mild and pleasant. The springs have been noted for their curative qualities from 
time immemorial, having been frequented by the Indians previous to Spanish occu¬ 
pation and highly esteemed by both races since that date. They have proved 
remarkably successful in the treatment of rheumatism, skin diseases, derange¬ 
ment of the kidneys and bladder and especially of all venereal diseases. Cases 
of paralysis, after resisting the usual appliances of medicine^ have been sent to 
Ojo Caliente and immediately and permanently relieved. The springs lie in a 
pleasant valley, one thousand feet lower than Barranca, surrounded by high bluffs 
capped with basaltic cliffs. On the top of these cliffs are table lands, on which are 
found the ruins of prehistoric buildings not unlike the Indian pueblos of the pres¬ 
ent day, but of which the Indians know nothing and even their traditions furnish 
no account. Four miles above the village are larger springs of tepid water, the 
mineral deposits from which have built up great mounds full of strange caves and 
glittering with saline incrustations. About three miles from Ojo Caliente is a 
high mountain called Cerro Colorado, from its peculiar reddish brown color, 
which, according to the statement of the inhabitants, exhibited marked evidences 
of volcanic action only fifty-four years ago. It has a well-defined crater and 
offers an inviting field for the investigations of the geologist. 

Hotels. —The Hot Springs Hotel is provided with all the modern comforts 
and conveniences for guests. 



20 


ESPANOLA—PLACES OF INTEREST NEAR ESPANOLA. 

Comanche Canon is encountered a short distance above Embudo, on the 
New Mexico extension of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. By means of this 
canon the road makes its descent to the Rio Grande Valley. The canon is rugged, 
difficult and striking, frequent cuts are made through hills of marl overlaid with 
a drift of basaltic rock, and the marvels of engineering share the tourist’s admira¬ 
tion with the grandeur of the scenery. 


ESPANOLA. 

Southern Terminus Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Population, xoo. Elevation, 5,589 feet. 

Espanola is situated on the Rio Grande del Norte and is the southern termi¬ 
nus of the New Mexico extension of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. It is 
in the heart of a quaint and interesting region, closely contiguous to the ruins of 
the ancient cliff dwellings and pueblos of the remnants of the aboriginal inhabi¬ 
tants of the country. A week or longer can be profitably spent here in visiting 
the points of interest in the vicinity. The Mexican town of Santa Cruz, the 
Indian pueblos of San Juan, Santa Clara and San Yldefonso and the cliff ruins, 
near Santa Clara, are all of supreme interest. This is a very delightful route to 
reach Santa F6, via the line of the Santa Fe Southern Railroad, which has been 
completed to the ancient Mexican city, and the ride through the wind-carved sand 
hills and past ruins of prehistoric races is of great interest. 


PLACES OF INTEREST NEAR ESPANOLA. 

Santa Cruz is a most interesting old Mexican town, situated on the Rio 
Grande del Norte, directly opposite Espanola. Its chief attraction is the ancient 
church, erected in the sixteenth century, which contains several paintings and 
images sent over from Spain at the time of the conquest. 

The Pueblo of San Juan is situated on the Rio Grande, opposite Chamita, 
about four miles from Espanola, and one and a half miles from the railroad. 
There are twenty-six similar Indian towns, nineteen of which are situated in 
New Mexico and seven in Arizona. Nine of them are on the line of the Den¬ 
ver & Rio Grande Railroad, or its immediate vicinity, viz: Taos, Picurio, San 
Juan, Santa Clara, San Yldefonso, Pojaque, Nombe, Cuyamauque and Tesuque. 
The different Pueblos closely resemble each other in construction. The dwellings 
are all built of mud-colored adobe, or sun-dried bricks, and are arranged so 
as to enclose a plaza or public square. The walls are from two to four feet 
in thickness and the roofs are of timbers covered with dirt a foot or more in 
depth. Many houses are two, and some even four or five stories, or rather 
terraces, in height, each successive story being set back some twelve or fifteen 
feet from the side walls of the next story below. The usual manner of entering 
these dwellings is by ascending a ladder outside the building to the roof and 
through a hole descending into the interior by another ladder, though some, 
as a modern improvement, have doors cut in the side walls. This method was 
doubtless adopted as a defensive measure during troublesome times, when it 
was often necessary to convert the pueblo into a fortress from which to repel 
hostile invasions. 

Pueblo of Santa Clara. —A few miles below the pueblo of San Juan, and 
one and one-half miles south of Espanola, is the pueblo of Santa Clara. Its 
characteristics are similar to those of the pueblos already described. 

The Pueblo De Taos. —Twenty miles above Embudo is the Pueblo de 
Taos. This is considered the most interesting as well as the most perfect speci¬ 
men of a Pueblo Indian fortress. It consists of two communistic houses, each 
five stories high, and a Roman Catholic church (now in a ruined condition) which 
stands near, although apart from, the dwellings. Around the fortress are seven 
circular mounds, which at first suggests the idea of being the work of Mound- 
Builders. On further examination they prove to be the sweating chambers or 




PLACES OF INTEREST NEAR ESPANOLA. 


21 


Turkish baths of this curious people. The largest appears also to serve the pur¬ 
pose of a council chamber and mystic hall, where rites peculiar to the tribe (about 
which they are very reticent) are performed. The Pueblo Indians delight to 
adorn themselves in gay colors, and form very interesting and picturesque subjects 
for the artist, especially when associated with their quaint surroundings. They 
are skilled in the manufacture of pottery, basket-making and bead-work. The 
grand annual festival of these Indians occurs on the 30th of September, and the 
ceremonies are of a peculiarly interesting character. 

All of these ancient pueblos are easy of access via the Denver & Rio Grande 
Railroad and abound in objects of interest, dating back many hundreds of years 
before the occupation of the country by the whites, and will fully repay the tourist 
for the time and expense necessary to visit them. 

Indian Festival at Pueblo de Taos. —Jesuitism has grafted its faith upon 
the superstitions of the Montezumas and a curious fruitage is the result. The 
mystic rites of the Pueblo Indians, performed at Pueblo de Taos in honor of San 
Geronimo (St. Jerome), upon each succeeding 30th day of September, attract 
large concourses of people, and are of great interest to either the ethnologist, 
ecclesiastic or tourist. A brief description can give but a faint idea of these cer¬ 
emonies, but may serve to arouse an interest in this matter. In the early morning 
of St. Jerome’s day, a black-robed Indian makes a recitation from the top of the 
pueblo to the assembled multitude below In the plaza stands a pine-tree pole 
fifty feet in height and from a cross piece at the top dangles a live sheep with legs 
tied together and back down. Besides the sheep, a garland of such fruits and 
vegetables as the valley produces, together with a basket of bread and grain, 
hang from the pole. The bell in the little adobe chapel sound's and a few of the 
Indians go into mass. A curious service follows. A rubicund Mexican priest is 
the celebrant, while two old Mexicans in modern dress and a Pueblo Indian in a 
red blanket are acolytes. When the host is elevated, an Indian at the door beats 
a villainous drum and four musket shots are discharged. After the services are 
concluded a procession is formed and marches to the race track, which is three 
hundred yards in length. The runners have prepared themselves in the estufas , 
or underground council chambers, and soon appear. There are fifty of them, 
and all are naked except a breech-clout and are painted no two alike. Fifty 
other runners to contest with these arrive from the other pueblo. They form in 
line on either side of the course and a slow, graceful dance ensues. All at once 
three hundred mad young Mexicans rush through the throng on their wild ponies, 
the leader swinging by the neck the gallo , or cock. Then the races begin, two 
runners from each side darting down the track cheered by their companions. 
No sooner do they reach the goal than two others start off, and thus for two 
hours,'until the sum of victories gained by individuals entitles one party or the 
other to claim success. The race decided, the runners range themselves in two 
facing lines and, preceded by the drum, begin a slow, side-wise march. Now the 
excitement runs nigh. The lines are broken and the Indians, chanting weirdly, 
have hard work to make their way through the struggling mass of two or three 
thousand spectators. To add to the excitement, the women cast loaves of bread 
and cakes from the terraces of the pueblo, for which all scramble in a headlong, 
hap-hazard fashion. At length the estufas have again swallowed up the runners 
and the forenoon ceremonies are ended. The afternoon from 3 to 5 o’clock is 
consumed by the antics of six naked and hideously-painted clowns. As the sun 
nears the west interest centers around the pole, where the poor sheep still hangs. 
After many mimic attempts the pole is climbed and, amid the yells of the 
on-lookers, the sheep is thrown to the ground. The fruits and grain speedily 
follow. All are carried off by the clowns, amidst the wildest excitement, and St. 
Jerome is supposed to rejoice in this happy conclusion of the festival in his 
honor. This description is necessarily brief and gives but a faint idea of this 
spectacle. The festival is well worthy a journey to see it and the Denver & Rio 
Grande Railroad will make special rates for parties who desire to be present 
when these rites are performed. 

Accessible Cliff Dwellings.— One of the most attractive portions of 
Colorado to the scientist, antiquarian, or, indeed, the general tourist, is that part 
in which are found the cliff dwellings of a long since extinct race. The most 







SIERRA BLANCA. 













































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































SANTA FE—PAGOSA SPRINGS—SCENERY ON THE SILVERTON EXTENSION. 23 

accessible of these pre-historic remains are situated about five miles from 
Espanola, near Santa Cruz Creek. Here a large extent of country is covered 
with these puzzling remains. It is only recently that they have been discovered 
and, though the most accessible of any yet found, have been seen by but few 
people. Any resident of Espanola can serve as a guide for the exploring trio, 
which should be made on horseback. The ruins are of great interest and must 
soon become widely known. 


SANTA FE. 

Capital of New Mexico. Population, 7,000. Elevation, 5,437 feet. 

Santa Fe is the oldest city in the United States, there being evidence to 
show that it was inhabited as early as 1325, or nearly three hundred years before 
the Pilgrim Fathers landed on Plymouth Rock. The City of Holy Faith is 
situated on both sides of the Santa Fe Creek. The streets are narrow and the 
buildings are almost all constructed of adobe and only one story in height. The 
city is filled with antiquities, the most remarkable of which, perhaps, is the church 
of San Miguel, built in 1582, and the Palace erected in 1581. To get an adequate 
idea of this quaint and interesting country, one should take the Santa Fe Southern 
Railway at Espanola and make the journey to Santa F 6 through the ancient 
pueblos and Indian villages which dot the way. 

Hotel.—T he Palace provides good accommodations for the tourist. 


« 


PAGOSA SPRINGS. 


Health Resort. Population, 250. Elevation, 7,108 feet. 

Pagosa Springs, the far-fanied “big machine” of the Utes, the greatest 
thermal fountains on the continent, are situated in Conejos County, twenty-eight 
miles northwest of Amargo, the nearest railway station, on the Silverton ex¬ 
tension of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. These springs lie upon the north¬ 
ern bank of the San Juan River, at an altitude of seven thousand feet, and in a 
situation combining numerous advantages and attractions. To the north are the 
peaks of the San Juan Range, east and west are the grassy plains dotted with 
immense pines ana far to the south the undulating prairie stretches into New 
Mexico. With such an environment, the Pagosa Springs must ere long gain the 
celebrity to which their medicinal qualities undoubtedly entitle them. The Indians 
have long been aware of the healing powers of these “ great medicine waters,” and 
have, until recently, jealously guarded their possession. It is not surprising that 
these children of the wilderness, who find relief from distress mainly in the med¬ 
ications of Nature, should deplore the loss of these powerful thermal waters. 
Within a basin seventy feet long and fifty wide, formed from its own alkaline de¬ 
posits, which are twenty or thirty feet thick, the water bubbles up at a tem- 

f >erature of 153 0 Fahrenheit. There are four other springs in the immediate 
ocality, their similarity to the main source, as shown by analysis, suggesting a 
common origin. Upon a cold morning the steam which rises from these different 
springs can be seen at a distance of several miles. These purgative, alkaline 
waters, with the large excess of sulphate of soda, so much increased in medicinal 
virtue by the degree of temperature, would seem to designate Pagosa as the 
Bethesda for sufferers from calculous disorders, gravel with uric acid diathesis, 
rheumatism and skin diseases, when alterative and depleting treatment is indi¬ 
cated. 

Hotels. —Good hotel accommodation can be found here, supplemented with 
well-furnished and well-conducted bath-houses. 


SCENERY ON THE SJLVERTON EXTENSION. 

Fort Garland is situated at the western foot of Veta Pass, near which San 
Luis Park begins to unfold its panorama of mountains, buttes, mesas and plains. 
For many years Fort Garland was occupied by United States troops as a frontier 





SCENERY ON THE SILVERTON EXTENSION. 


24 

military station, but the advent of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and accom¬ 
panying civilization has rendered its presence supererogatory and it has been 
abandoned. A scattering village remains, together with the interesting ruins of 
the dismantled fort. _ . 

Sierra Blanca. —It is doubtful if any other railroad in the world affords, in 
an equal distance, so fine a view of mountain and plain as that unfolded by the 
twenty-four miles’ ride on the Denver & Rio Grande, from Fort Garland to Ala¬ 
mosa. At the right, rising directly from the valley, the lower slopes clad in vast 
forests of pine, appear the sublime heights of Sierra Blanca, its grand cluster of 
white granite peaks lifting into the sky their sharp pinnacles, splintered and fur¬ 
rowed by the hand of the Almighty. It is fourteen thousand four hundred and 
sixty-four feet high, or over two miles and four-fifths, and the highest mountain 
but one in the United States. Surely it is worth a journey across the continent 
to obtain such a view of such a mountain. Although a part of the range, it 
stands out into the park like a monarch taking precedence of a lordly retinue. 
Two-thirds of its height are above timber line, bare and desolate, and except 
for a month or two of the summer, dazzling white with snow, while in its abysmal 
gorges it holds eternal reservoirs of ice. To the north and south, in bold relief 
for a distance of nearly two hundred miles, it is flanked by the serrated pinna¬ 
cles of the Sangre de Cristo Range. 

San Luis Park, at the eastern verge of which Sierra Blanca^stands, may be 
likened to a portion of the great plains, larger than the State of Connecticut, set 
in among the Rocky Mountains. There is a large extent of irrigable land in this 
park, only a portion of which has been improved. The valley is rapidly filling up 
with thrifty farmers and the population shows an annual increase of at least 
twenty-five per cent. Wherever irrigation has been practiced the soil has 
responded with valuable crops. The Rio Grande alone is capable of furnishing 
water to irrigate a large portion of the park and there are several other streams 
whose waters may be used. 

Phantom Curve. —Just before Toltec Tunnel is reached, a sharp carve takes 
the train into a cove among the hills, with monument-shaped rocks on one side 
and fantastic castellated cliffs rising five or six hundred feet on the other. This 
is known as Phantom Curve. It is, indeed, a wild spot, with the valley so deep 
below, the weird, red monumental rocks around and the tall, shelving cliffs above. 
At one place, near the track, there is a small cave, in which is found a beautiful 
light green moss. ri mile beyond Phantom Curve the railway crosses the head 
of the ravine on a high bridge of trestle-work. From this point the track runs 
directly toward the valley, on a line almost at right angles with it, to where it 
narrows into a mere fissure in the rocks at Toltec Gorge. 

Toltec Gorge and Tunnel.— An hour’s ride from Antonito brings the 
traveler to the brow of a precipitous hill, from whence he looks down into the peace¬ 
ful and picturesque valley of the Los Pinos. As the advance is made around 
mountain spurs and deep ravines, glimpses are caught of profound depths and 
towering heights, and then the train, making a great detour of four miles around 
a side canon, plunges into the blackness of Toltec Tunnel. Heights ! Depths ! 
Mere words these; but here they are stupendous things. Six churches, each 
with spires as towering as Trinity’s, placed one above the other, would scarcely 
bring the topmost steeple on a level with the observer’s eye. For six hundred 
feet the tunnel has been blasted through solid granite. When the train emerges 
it is upon the brink of a precipice. A solid bridge of trestle-work set in the rock, 
after the manner of a balcony, supports the track, and from this coigne of vantage 
the traveler beholds the grandest and most thrilling spectacle/ The tremendous 
gorge, whose sides are splintered rocks and monumental crags and whose depths 
are filled with the snow-white waters of a foaming torrent, lies beneath him, the 
blue sky is above him and all around the majesty and mystery of the mountains. 

Garfield Memorial. —On the twenty-sixth day of September, 1881, the 
National Association of General Passenger Agents, at the time President Garfield 
was being buried in Cleveland, held memorial services at the mouth of Toltec 
Tunnel and since have erected a beautiful monument in memory of the event. 


DURANGO—TRIMBLE HOT SPRINGS. 25 

DURANGO. 

Commercial Town. Population, 5,000. Elevation, 6,520 feet. 

Durango is the county seat of La Plata County and is a prosperous and 
growing town. It is situated on the Rio Las Animas, on the Silverton Branch of 
the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and the >Iain Line, Rio Grande Southern 
Railroad. It is surrounded by some of the richest gold and silver mines in Colo¬ 
rado, including the recently discovered gold fields of the La Plata. It is the great 
smelting center of Southwestern Colorado, in the center of immense coal fields 
and the great distributing point for the famous Montezuma Valley and the Ute 
Indian reservation, which, it is now anticipated, will soon be thrown open for 
settlement, one of the most fertile agricultural districts of the West. 

Hotels.— The Strater House is a large and elegant brick hotel, the only hotel 
constructed of brick in the city. The Grand Central caters to a good class of 
patronage. There are smaller hotels, boarding-houses and restaurants in abundance. 


TRIMBLE HOT SPRINGS. 


Health and Pleasure Resort. Elevation, 6,650 feet. 


The famous Trimble Hot Springs are situated nine miles north of Durango, 
on the Silverton extension of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. The scenery 
surrounding these springs is of wonderful beauty. They are situated not five 
minutes’ walk from the railway depot and have been extensively improved by 
the hand of man. The pine-clad mountains tower to a great height in the rear 
and wherever vistas in the verdure afford a view of the rocks they blaze with the 
• most startling hues of orange and vermilion. 

Below is an analysis of the Springs. One litre of mineral water contains the 
following: 


Silicic Acid, - 

80 milligrammes. 

Carbonate of Iron, • 

' 5 6 

U 

“ “ Calcium, 

980 

it 

“ ** Magnesia, 

- 18 

a 

'* ** Potash, 

Trace. 


“ “ Sodium, • 

- 21 

a 

“ “ Baryta, 

Trace. 


Sulphate, “ Iron, 

* „ 5 

<t 

“ “ Calcium, 

809 

ct 

“ “ Magnesia, - 

- 201 



Sulphate of Copper, - * Trace. 

“ “ Alumina, - - 3 milligrammes. 

Sulphuric Acid, - - 726 “ 

Carbonic Acid, ... 436 " 

Chloride of Sodium, - 181 “ 

“ “ Calcium, - - 105 

“ “ Magnesia, - 84 “ 

“ « Potash, - 56 “ 

Iodide, .... None. 

Bromide, .... None. 


Animas Ca^on. —For a dozen miles north of Durango, the railroad traverses 
the beautiful valley of the Animas, with its fields of waving grain, its well kept 
gardens and its thrifty homes. Anon the valley becomes more broken and con¬ 
tracted, the approaching walls grow more precipitous and the smooth meadows 
give place to stately pines and sighing sycamores. The silvery Animas frets in 
its narrowing bed and breaks into foam against the opposing boulders. The 
road climbs and clings to the rising cliffs, and presently the earth and stately 
pines have receded and the train rolls along a mere granite shelf in mid-air. 
Above, the vertical wall rises a thousand feet; below, hundreds of feet of perpen¬ 
dicular depth and a fathomless river. The canon is here a mere rent in the 
mountain, so narrow one may toss a pebble across, and the cramped stream has 
assumed the deep emerald hue of Niagara. In the loftier heights the verdure- 
clad mountains are discerned,"rising into shapely cones and coquetting with the 
fleecy clouds. In the shadow of the rock all is solitary and weird and awful. 
The startled traveler quickly loses all apprehension in the wondrous beauty and 
grandeur of the scene and, as successive curves repeat and enhance the enchant¬ 
ment, Nature asserts herself in ecstasy. Emerging from this marvelous gorge, the 
bed of the canon rapidly rises until the roadway is but a few feet above the 
stream. Dark walls of rock are replaced with clustering mountains of supreme 
height, whose abruptness defies the foot of man. The Needles, the most peculiar 
and striking of the Rockies, thrust their splintered pinnacles into the regions of 
perpetual snow. The river, with its borders of flowers, and swaying vines, z nd 
stately trees, loses none of its picturesqueness. 






26 


SILVERTON—THE RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN R. R. 

Elk Park is a beautiful little valley in the midst of the range, with sunlit 
meadows and groups of giant pines, a spot which is rich in material for the artist 
who is in search of new impressions. . 

Garfield Peak, lifting its symmetrical summit a mile above the track, 
stands at the end of Elk Park and is a peerless landmark among its fellows. 
Onward the everlasting hills are marshaled and among them for miles the canon 
of the Animas maintains its grandeur. Frequent cascades, glistening like bur¬ 
nished silver in the sunlight, leap from crag to crag for a thousand feet down the 
mountain sides to lose themselves in the Animas. Thus grandly ends this glori¬ 
ous ride as the train sweeps out into the greenery of Baker’s Park and arrives 
at Silverton, in the heart of the San Juan. 


SILVERTON. 

Mining Town. Population, 3,000. Elevation, 9,224 feet. 

Silverton is the terminus of the Silverton extension of the Denver & Rio Grande 
Railroad. It is the judicial seat of San Juan County and is in the heart of the rich 
mining region of San Juan. It is surrounded by scenery rivaling the grandest views 
in Switzerland and the tourist will never regret a visit to behold its beauties. 

Hotels. —Silverton is well supplied with hotels, at which the traveler will be 
handsomely entertained. Among these may be mentioned the Grand Central 
and the Walker House. 


THE RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN R. R. 

Leaving the line of the Denver & Rio Grande at Durango, crossing the Rio 
de las Animas and continuing up Lightner Creek past old Fort Lewis and on to 
Ridgway, one hundred and sixty-two miles away, where it again connects with 
the Denver & Rio Grande, runs the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. 

This line has been completed within the past few years and now forms a 
portion of, and adds a great many points of scenic interest to, the famous “Around 
the Circle” tour. 

This road passes through the valleys of the Mancos and Dolores Rivers, with 
their fine farms and ranches, surrounded on all sides by snow-capped peaks, the 
melting snows from which make numerous streams of pure, cold water which 
always assures the farmer of a crop, for here it never rains, and irrigation is 
resorted to in all agricultural pursuits. 

From Mancos station the famous ruins of the homes of the Cliff Dwellers are 
accessible. These ruins are to be found in the Mancos Canon, Cliff Canon, 
Navajo Canon, Mocasin Canon and in fact in all the canons intersecting the Mesa 
Verde, which comprises an area of nearly 25,000 square miles. The easiest and 
best method of reaching these interesting ruins is by saddle horses over a good 
trail from Mancos. Guides and all necessary equipment for this delightful trip 
can be secured by application to the station agent at reasonable rates. 

Leaving Mancos the line continues northward through the Lost Canon and 
on to the Dolores Canon, not so grand or imposing as some others we have men¬ 
tioned in this book, but none the less interesting. 

The country opened up by this line is entirely a new one and game is plenti¬ 
ful; occasionally from the car window may be seen a herd of deer scurrying along 
as fast as their fleet limbs will carry them in their frantic haste to get away from 
that awful monster, puffing and blowing, belching forth steam and smoke as it 
hurries along on the glistening rails. 

Rico and Telluride, two of Colorado’s most important mining towns, are 
located on this road, and several of the largest producing mines are here. 

The Lizard Head Pass, Ophir Loop and the Dallas Divide rival any engi¬ 
neering achievement which exist on these mountain roads, and their tortuous 
winding up the mountain sides, through deep, rocky cuts, over high bridges, 
dodging into a snow shed dark as night, then rushing out into the bright sunshine, 
gives the tourist a taste of mountain climbing second to none in the world. 

Coming down the eastern slope of the Dallas Divide into Ridgway, away off 
to the right is the Uncompaghre Range with its everlasting snow-capped peaks, its 
dark and gloomy canons, whose darkness is emphasized by the glare of a Colorado 




BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF OURAY. 






















































































































































































































































































































































































2 & AROUND THE CIRCLE—SCENIC ATTRACTIONS—THE RAINBOW ROUTE. 

sun on the projecting rocks near by, its softer portions densely wooded with pine 
and fir trees whose dark foliage gives a soft and gentle tone to these parts of the 
range and forms a striking contrast with the bold, rocky face of the mountain 
above. No grander or more awe-inspiring view is to be beheld anywhere in the 
known world than this. 


“AROUND THE CIRCLE.” 

The journey “Around the Circle,” on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, 
from Denver to Silverton, Silverton to Ouray and return to Denver, or via the 
Denver & Rio Grande to Durango, thence over the Rio Grande Southern to 
Ridgway and return to Denver, comprises more noted and magnificent scen¬ 
ery than any other trip of similar length in the known world. Piercing the 
heart of the Rocky Mountains, crossing and recrossing the “Great Divide,” 
between the Atlantic and Pacific slopes ; penetrating four canons, each of 
which is a world’s wonder, and no two having the same characteristics; climb¬ 
ing three mountain passes by rail and one by stage; achieving grades of two 
hundred and eleven feet to the mile; reaching heights eleven thousand feet 
above the sea; penetrating gorges whose walls soar a half a mile in perpen¬ 
dicular cliffs above the track; traversing fertile and picturesque valleys, watered 
by historic rivers; passing through Indian reservations and in sight of frontier 
cantonments of national troops; pausing in the midst of mining camps, where 
gold and silver and coal and copper are being taken from subterranean 
recesses; in a word, making the traveler familiar with peaks and plains, lakes 
and rivers, canons and passes, mountains and mesas; with strange scenes in 
nature, aboriginal types of men, wonders of science and novel forms of art; 
surely no other journey of a thousand miles can so instruct, entertain, entrance 
and thrill the traveler as this trip “Around the Circle.” 

The special points of interest on the trip “Around the Circle” are described 
in detail in the pages of this book, but for ease in identification a synopsis of its 
special scenic features is here given. 


SCENIC ATTRACTIONS “AROUND THE CIRCLE.” 

Denver, Castle Rock, Casa Blanca, Palmer Lake, Phoebe’s Arch, Garden 
of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Manitou, Pike’s Peak, Cheyenne Mountain, 
Pueblo, Sierra Blanca, San Luis Valley, Rio Grande River, Phantom Curve, 
Toltec Gorge, Toltec Tunnel, Garfield Memorial, Los Pinos Valley, Cumbres 
Range, Indian Reservation, Durango, Fort Lewis, Mancos Valley, Cliff Dwell¬ 
ings, Lost Canon, Dolores Valley, Dolores Canon, Rico, Lizard Head, Trout 
Lake, Ophir Loop, Telluride, Dallas Divide, Ridgway, Rio Las Animas, Trimble 
Hot Springs, Animas Canon, Garfield Peak, Needle Mountains, Elk Park, Sultan 
Mountain, Silverton, Red Mountain, Ouray & Silverton Toll Road, Mount 
Abrams, Bear Creek Falls, Uncompahgre Canon, Ouray, Ft. Crawford, Uncom- 
pahgre Mountains, Cerro Summit, Cimarron Canon, Black Canon, Gunnison 
River, Currecanti Needle, Chippeta Falls, Pacific Slope, Marshall Pass, Mount 
Ouray, Mount Shaveno, Atlantic Slope, Sangre de Cristo Range, Poncha Pass, 
Poncha Hot Springs, Collegiate Range, Arkansas River, Grand Canon of the 
Arkansas, Royal Gorge, Denver. 


THE RAINBOW ROUTE. 

From Silverton the journey “Around the Circle” is continued by taking the 
Silverton Railway, of which Mr. Otto Mears is the builder and President, a road 
constructed up the difficult grades of Red Mountain, chiefly to facilitate the 
handling of ores which are taken from these rich deposits, but also employed 
in the transportation of passengers. This line does not as yet bridge the gap 
between Silverton and Ouray and from its terminus stages carry tourists over the 





OURAY. 


2Q 

mountains to the latter point, where the trip is resumed via the Denver & Rio 
Grande Railroad. The stage ride forms one of the most attractive features of 
this most attractive journey. Lasting only three hours, passing over the summits 
of ranges and through the depths of canons, the tourist will find this a welcome 
variation to his method ot travel and a great relief and recreation, The old- 
fashioned stage, with all its romantic associations, is rapidly becoming a thing of 
the past. A year or two more and it will have disappeared entirely from Colorado. 
Here, in the midst of some of the grandest scenery on the continent, the blue sky 
above and the fresh, pure, exhilarating mountain air sending the blood bounding 
through one’s veins, to clamber into a Concord coach and be whirled along a 
splendidly constructed road, drawn by four fiery horses, guided ?nd controlled by 
a typical Western stage driver, is surely a novel and delightful experience. The 
scenery on this journey between Silverton and Ouray is of the greatest magnifi¬ 
cence. This is especially true of that portion of the route traversed by stage. 
The Silverton ana Ouray toll-road has long been noted for its attractions in the 
way of scenery, the triangular mass of Mount Abrams’ towers to the left, while 
the road winds around the curves of the hills with the sinuosity of a mountain 
brook. The scene from the bridge over Bear Creek is one winch once beheld 
can never be forgotten. Directly under the bridge plunges a cataract to a depth 
of two hundred and fifty-three feet, forming a most noteworthy. and impressive 
scene. The toll-road passes through one of the most famous mining regions in 
the world and the fame of Red Mountain is well deserved both from the number 
and richness of its mines. Before Ouray is reached the road passes through 
Uncompahgre Canon. Here the road-bed has been blasted from the solid rock 
wall of the gorge and a scene similar in nature and rivaling in .grandeur that of 
Animas Canon is beheld. 


OURAY. 

Mining Center. County Seat of Ouray County. Population, 4,000. 


Elevation 7,721 feet. 


Ouray is situated in a grand amphitheatre of mountains and can be reached 
by the Denver & Rio Grand Railroad from Montrose and by rsil and stage from 
Silverton. The summits of the surrounding peaks are from three to four 
thousand feet higher than the town and from ten to fourteen thousand feet above 
tide-water. In the southwest portion of the basin, in which stands the town, and 
where the waters of Canon Creek flow into'those of the Uncompahgre, there are 
some lovely canons and picturesque gorges; and here, in places, where the hot 
springs flow down over the banks into the main stream, the rocks are covered 
with a perfect mat of “maiden hair” and other ferns. Some of these springs 
contain iron and sulphur in large quantities, but what other medicated matter is 
not known, as they have never been analyzed. A short distance from here, up 
Cafion Creek, is a large cave, just how large is not known, for it has never yet 
been systematically explored; but there are large chambers in it and the floor 
and roof are covered with stalactites and stalagmites. The cave is entered from 
the edge of Canon Creek and it is impossible to get into soms of the chambers 
without ladders. The hot springs above spoken of, all of which flow into the Un¬ 
compahgre, serve to keep that river without a film of ice in the severest weather, 
both in town and for some distance below it; indeed, on a very cold morning in 
winter, a little white cloud of steam hangs over the river for more than a mile 
below town. On the east side of Ouray, Portland Creek flows in, and from a cleft 
high up in the gigantic buttress of red sandstone, which flanks the northeastern 
portion, Cascade Creek rushes down and shoots far out into the air, ending in a 
lovely veil of spray. In the northern part of the town there are more hot springs, 
and where they flow into the river are large beds of delicious watercress, which, 
owing to the warmth of the water and protection from frost by steam, remain 
green all through the severest winter, a luxury not to be despised at that season 
when “ green stuff ” for food is so scarce and so desirable. The Uncompahgre 
and its tributaries abound with speckled trout. 

Hotels. —The tourist will find accommodations at the newly-built and 
elegant Beaumont Hotel equal to those of a metropolitan city. The house was 




\ 



WAGON WHEEL GAP 

































































































































































































































































































































































































































































WAGON WHEEL GAP. 


31 


erected at an expense of $125,000 and is supplied with electric lights and annun¬ 
ciators. The service is first-class in every respect and the management is of such 
a superior character that all who have ever been the guests of the Beaumont 
unite in praising it as a marvel of comfort, convenience and elegance. The 
tourist who stops at this hotel will thank the writer for directing his steps to this 
most hospitable and superior hostelry. The Dixon Hotel, under new management, 
is also popular with the traveling public and furnishes good accommodations at 
reasonable rates. 

Hot Springs. —The hot springs here are provided with bath-rooms as well 
as a large plunge bath. The waters are a specific for rheumatism. 

Hunting and Fishing. —Plenty of sport can be had about here. The 
mountain sheep and wapiti have not yet been killed off; deer and trout are 
abundant. The rides up the roads and trails to neighboring mines and mining 
camps, through valley and canon and over mountain and mesa, are not soon 
exhausted, and the lover of botany or geology, or the student of mineralogy and 
mining, could scarcely find a finer field anywhere than in the neighborhood of 
Ouray. 

Ouray to Montrose. —Leaving Ouray, a ride of thirty-five miles, via the 
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, brings the traveler to Montrose, on the main 
line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, between Denver and Salt Lake. Two 
miles from Ouray the country begins to become open and soon one is passing 
through farms and an excellent agricultural valley. En route one passes the 
confluence of the Uncompahgre and Dallas, where the Rio Grande Southern 
branches to the gold fields of San Miguel, and the mesas and terraces on either 
side abound with almost every species of game—deer, elk, mountain sheep, bear 
and smaller animals. Further on, twenty-two miles from Ouray, you come to the 
old Los Pinos agency, where Chiefs Douglas, Jack, Colorow, Piah and other 
Indians, who participated in the massacre of Thornburg and the Meekers, tested 
the nerve of Gen. Hatch and his associates in 1879. The store-house, council 
chamber, etc., are still standing. The military camp is passed twenty-six miles 
from Ouray, and five miles further on one reaches the residence of Chippeta, the 
widow of Ouray, the dead Ute chief, who, during his reign, held the Utes in check 
and was always the friend of the white man. At Montrose the tourist can take 
the main line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad for the east or west. 


WAGON WHEEL GAP. 

Hunting, Fishing and Health Resort. Population, 25. Elevation, 8,448 feet. 

On the Wagon Wheel Gap branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, 
and on the Rio Grande River, the best trout stream in Southern Colorado, in the 
midst of a region still swarming with elk and deer and bear, is Wagon Wheel 
Gap, which has become the favorite sporting ground for the lovers of the rod and 
gun. It is more than this, however, for the hot springs here are famed for their 
almost miraculous curative properties. The scenery is wonderfully beautiful. As 
the Gap is approached the valley narrows until the river is hemmed in between 
massive walls of solid rock that rise to such a height on either side as to throw 
the passage into twilight shadow. The river rushes roaring down over gleaming 
gravel or precipitous ledges. Progressing, the scene becomes wilder and more 
romantic, until at last the waters of the Rio Grande pour through a cleft in the 
rocks just wide enough to allow the construction of a road along the river’s edge. 
On the right, as one enters, tower cliffs to a tremendous height, suggestive in their 
appearance to the Palisades of the Hudson. On the left rises the round shoulder 
of a massive mountain. The vast wall is unbroken for more than half a mile, 
its crest presenting an almost unserrated sky-line. Once through the Gap the 
traveler, looking to the south, sees a valley encroached upon and surrounded 
by hills. Here is an old stage station, a primitive and picturesque structure of 
hewn logs and adobe, one story in height, facing the south, and made cool and 
inviting by wide-roofed verandas extending along its entire front. Not a hundred 
feet away rolls the Rio Grande River, swarming with trout, A drive pf a mile 



CREEDE. 


32 

along a winding road, each turn in which reveals new scenic beauties, brings the 
tourist to the famous springs. The medicinal qualities of the waters, both of the 
cold and hot springs, have been thoroughly tested and proved equal, if not 
superior, to the Hot Springs of Arkansas. . 

Hotels— The Hot Springs Hotel is situated at the site of the springs and 
furnishes good accommodations. The hotel is provided with every variety of 
baths, including two large swimming reservoirs. One of the freaks of Nature is a 
large hot spring from which the steam is constantly rising, while within a half 
dozen feet bubbles up another spring of ice-cold water. Lieutenant G. M. 
Wheeler, U. S. A., gives the following analysis of these springs:. No. 1 has a 
temperature of about 150° Fahrenheit, is bubbling continually, and is about eight 
feet wide by twelve feet long; No. 2 is a small bubbling spring, cold, about one 
foot in diameter, and gives out a strong odor of sulphureted hydrogen; No. 3 is 
situated some distance from Nos. 1 and 2, at the foot of a hill; it bubbles contin¬ 
ually and is of a temperature of 140° Fahrenheit. This spring is about three 
feet wide and the same in length; it is called the Soda Spring. In one thousand 
parts of the water of the Springs of the Wagon Wheel Gap are contained parts 
as follows: 

Sodium Carbonate,. 

Lithium Carbonate,. 

Calcium Carbonate, ..... 

Magnesium Carbonate, ..... 

Potassium Sulphate, ..... 

Sodium Sulphate, ...... 

Sodium Chloride,. 

Silicic Acid, ....... 

Organic Matter, ...... 

Sulphureted Hydrogen, ..... 

Total,. 


No. 1. 

No. 2. 

No. 3. 

69.42 

Trace. 

144.50 

Trace. 

Trace. 

Trace. 

• 14.0S 


22.42 

10.91 

5.10 

22.42 

- Trace. 

Trace. 

Trace. 

23-73 

10.50 

I 3-76 

- 29-25 

11.72 

33-34 


1.07 

4.72 

- Trace. 

Trace. 

Trace. 

12.00 


• 152.12 

71*39 

2 * 8-77 


Antelope Springs. —Twenty miles west of Wagon Wheel Gap, in Antelope 
Park, are situated Antelope Springs, in a region which is becoming a great resort 
for sportsmen and abounding in fish and game. The waters of the springs are 
medicinal and resemble the more widely-known mineral waters of the Gap, in that 
they are both hot and cold and differ among themselves in their mineral con¬ 
stituents. The scenery is wild and beautiful. For a hunting party, or as a place 
for a few days’ outing in camp, no more pleasing spot can be found. 

Trout Fishing in the Rio Grande. —There is no stream on the eastern 
slope of the Rocky Mountains that affords finer trout fishing than the Rio Grande. 
Trout reaching the wonderful weight of nine pounds have been frequently taken 
and those weighing from one to three pounds can be caught in great abundance. 
This is undoubtedly one of the best fishing resorts in America. 


Mining Town. 


CREEDE. 

Population, 7,000. 


Elevation, 9,016 feet. 


Ten miles beyond Wagon Wheel Gap and on the extension of the Del Norte 
branch of the road is Creede, the new but already famous mining camp. This 
camp was located less than two years ago and is to-day one of the largest pro¬ 
ducing camps in the State, and has a population of from seven to ten thousand. 
While Creede is known as a silver camp it is not distinctly so. The ore in that 
district varies, and almost every property has more or less of a percentage of gold. 
The vein matter is so rich in the leading mines that even did they not contain 
gold they could be worked at a profit. But with Leadville, so with Creede. The 
deeper the mines are going, the heavier the percentage of gold. This has been 
the invariable rule with the large producing properties, which, from the indica¬ 
tions, will soon have enough gold to pay for their working. The camp is active 
and is progressing. A great deal of development work is going on, contracts 
being let for extensive work every day. New districts are being opened up, 
revealing new formations and good paying ore. The properties that first brought 
the camp into prominence are continuing their large output. 

There are several good hotels in Creede, and the wayfarer will be assured of 
all modern comforts. 













CRIPPLE CREEK-CANON CITY. 


33 


FLORENCE. 

Commercial Town. Population, 3,000. Elevation, 5,199. 

Florence is a thriving commercial town, 153 miles from Denver, the center of 
the great oil fields and the connecting point of the Denver & Rio Grande R. R. 
with the Florence & Cripple Creek R. R. Here are also located oil refineries and 
the great reduction works for the treating of the vast quantities of gold ores from 
the Cripple Creek mines. 

CRIPPLE CREEK GOLD DISTRICT. 

Cripple Creek. Population, 5,000. Elevation, 9,800 feet. 

Victor. “ 3,000. “ 9,734 “ 

The town of Cripple Creek has advanced with the prosperity of the mining 
district of which it is the center. From a camp of a few wooden shanties and tents, 
a few years ago, it has risen to a well-built, well-defined mining town. Brick build¬ 
ings are being erected in the business center and dwellings of a permanent charac¬ 
ter are dotting the slopes around the town. There is a stability about it which is 
most encouraging. The hotel accommodations are first-class. There is an excel¬ 
lent water service, the supply being piped from the mountains above, and the town 
is peaceably and well governed. The advent of the railroads, the great attention 
being paid to gold mining and the immense quantities of ore that are being uncov¬ 
ered in the mining district, all go to show that Cripple Creek is but entering upon 
an era of great prosperity. The Florence & Cripple Creek R. R., from its con¬ 
nection with the Denver & Rio Grande R. R., at Florence, is now completed into 
the camp and provides direct all-rail connections from Denver and Pueblo. 

CANON CITY. 

Pleasure and all the year Health Resort. Population, 3,000. Elevation, 5,344 feet. 

CaSon City, on the main line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, is a 
handsome residence and business town, supplied with electric light, telephone, 
water-works and sewerage system. Is the county seat of Fremont County, the 
State Penitentiary and mineral springs of great value. The town is substantially 
built and is noted for its fine residences and the handsome grounds which 
surround them. It has a warm, well-sheltered location and equable climate, 
making it a favorite resort for tourists and invalids. Recent reports for the 
United States Signal Service has proved it to possess the mildest winter climate 
in the State, having a larger proportion of dryness and sunshine than is to be 
found elsewhere in this the sunniest of all climes. Snow falls but seldom and 
quickly disappears. Fair weather here is the rule and stormy weather the excep¬ 
tion. Its sheltered position gives it immunity from high winds, while the rich soil 
supports the finest vineyards, orchards and meadows in Colorado, all fruits and 
other products coming to maturity at the same time as in the Middle States. 

First among its attractions are the Royal Gorge Hot Springs, at the mouth 
of the Grand Canon of the Arkansas, the virtues of which were first generally 
made known through an analysis by Prof. Leow, chemist of the Wheeler Govern¬ 
ment Exploring Expedition, who said in his official report: “ Of all the mineral 
waters of the West which I have analyzed, I find those of Canon City the best.” 


HIS ANALYSIS OF THE WATER: 


Carbonate of Soda, 
Carbonate of Magnesia, 
Carbonate of Lime, 


73-2° 

12.80 

33-So 


Sulphate of Soda (Glaubar Salts) - 
Chloride of Sodium (Ammon. Salts) 
Carbonate of Lithia, - • 


79-30 
• 18.20 
Traces. 


Total solids to one gallon of water, .217.00 

Recently a cosy hotel was erected here which furnishes, in connection 
with the hotels of the city, ample and elegant accommodations for pleasure and 
health-seekers in this justly famous all-the-year resort. The drive to the top of 
the Royal Gorge is through wonderful scenery, passing the State Penitentiary, 
where four hundred convicts are confined, then the Cold Soda Springs, the Vichy 
water of Colorado, then following up a little red land valley along the base of the 
Hogback, past the immense greenish marl protuberances known as Beecher and 
his pulpit; then, at Three-Mile Spring, after drinking the waters, you bear toward 
^nd pass the mineral paint and cement deposits and cross great conglomerate 





34 SILVER CLIFF—GRAND CANON OF THE ARKANSAS. 

beds, the reddish glow of chaotic times still clinging to the fused mass, which 
readily suggests the appropriateness of the name Devil’s Gate. On the right are 
Twin Mountains, the sides of which are plated with coarse marble. A little 
further the pent-up world opens suddenly into one of Colorado’s grandest views, 
the snow-clad peaks of the Continental Divide, at the head of the South 
Arkansas, nearly a hundred miles away, and the beautiful peaks of the Sangre 
de Cristo Range to southward; as you pass on to the right is Eight-Mile Park, 
with its evergreen-clad mounds. The soul expands and you wish to hurry on, 
feeling ready now for the awe-inspiring view tnat awaits you at the top of the 
only Royal Gorge. Not to have seen it from the top is not to have imbibed the 
grandeur of Nature’s most stupendous work; is not to have done Rocky Mountain 
scenerv. , , _ 

The Saurean Bonefields, Marble Caves, the Bottle Rocks, the Bottomless 
Pit and Grape Creek Canon are all well worthy of a visit. The magnificent 
orchards of fruit, the oil fields and famous coal fields, the extensive stone 
quarries and the health-giving springs are all tributary to the prosperity of this 
ideal residence city. With these and many other attractions every person bom 
and living near the sea-level can but be benefited by a sojourn on this altitude, 
a location where are combined pleasure and profit, in the midst of a panorama 
of the picturesque and grand in Nature. 

Hotels. —The McClure and the St. Cloud Hotels furnish first-class accom¬ 
modations. The Royal Gorge Hotel, situated at the hot springs near the city, is 
especially adapted for tourists and invalids. There are a number of smaller 
houses and restaurants. _ 

SILVER CLIFF. 


Mining and Commercial Town. Population, 800. Elevation, 7,816 feet. 

Silver Cliff is situated in the Wet Mountain Valley and is noted as the center 
of a large and remarkable mining district. Here was discovered the Racine Boy 
Mine, which caused a tremendous rush to that section, resulting in other great 
discoveries. The town is surrounded by a fertile valley, which produces large 
quantities of grain and hay. _ 


GRAND CANON OF THE ARKANSAS. 

One of the World’s Wonders. 

Just beyond Canon City the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad enters the Grand 
Canon of the Arkansas, the narrowest portion of which is known as the Royal 
Gorge, which is shown on the back cover of this book. When first examined it 
seemed impossible that a railway could ever be constructed through this stupen¬ 
dous canon to Leadville and the West. There was scarcely room for the river 
alone and granite ledges blocked the path with their mighty "bulk. In time, how¬ 
ever, these obstructions were blasted away, a road-bed, closely following the con¬ 
tour of the cliffs, was made, and to-day the canon is a well-used thoroughfare. 
But its grandeur still remains. After entering its depths, the train moves slowly 
along the side of the Arkansas and around projecting shoulders of dark-hued 
granite, deeper and deeper into the heart of the range. The crested crags grow 
higher, the river madly foams along its rocky bed, anon the way becomes a mere 
fissure through the heights. Far above the road the sky forms a deep blue arch of 
light; but in the Gorge hang dark and sombre shades which the sun s rays have 
never penetrated. The place is a measureless gulf of air with solid walls on either 
side. Here the granite cliffs are one thousand feet high, smooth and unbroken by 
tree or shrub, and there a pinnacle soars skyward for thrice that distance. No 
flowers grow and the birds care not to penetrate the solitudes. The river, sombre 
and swift, breaks the awful stillness with its roar. Soon the cleft becomes still 
more narrow, the treeless cliffs higher, the river closer confined, and, where a long 
iron bridge hangs suspended from the smooth walls, the grandest portion of the 
canon is reached. Man becomes dwarfed and dumb in the sublime scene and 
Nature exhibits the power she possesses. The crags menacingly rear their heads 
above the daring intruders and the place is like the entrance to some infernal 
region. Escaping from the Gorge, the narrow valley of the Upper Arkansas is 








SALIDA—COTTONWOOD HOT SPRINGS—COTTONWOOD LAKE. 35 

traversed, with the striking serrated peaks of the Sangre de Cristo close at hand 
on the west, until Salida is reached. Here the main line of the railroad bears 
northward to Leadville, Tennessee Pass, Mount of the Holy Cross, Glenwood 
Springs, Grand Junction, Salt Lake City, Ogden and the Pacific Coast; while 
the narrow-guage line crosses the Arkansas, leaving Poncha Springs on the left, 
climbs into a narrowing but verdant valley running down between low-browed 
hills, and begins to scale the heights of Marshall Pass, crossing which the road 
continues on to Grand Junction, where it once more connects with the standard- 
guage main line for the West. 


SALIDA. 

Picturesque Mountain Town. Population, 3,500. Elevation, 7,050 feet. 

Salida is a prosperous town on the Arkansas River, at the junction of the 
standard-guage main line leading via Leadville, Tennessee Pass and Glenwood 
Springs to Grand Junction, and the narrow-guage line via Marshall Pass to 
another connection with the main line at Grand Junction. Here, also, is the 
northern terminus of the branch lines to Durango, Silverton, Alamosa, Wagon 
Wheel Gap, Creede, Santa Fe and all points in the San Luis Valley and South¬ 
western Colorado. 

Repair shops of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad are located here, and 
this point being the terminus of four divisions of the railroad makes Salida one of 
the most important stations on the entire system. The situation of Salida is 
beautiful and the tourist will find much to interest him in its vicinity The river 
affords great attractions to the fisherman and the walks and rides are particularly 
charming. 

Hotels. —The Monte Cristo Hotel is the best in the city, being also the eat¬ 
ing station on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. A word may be added here 
concerning the excellent character of the eating-houses on the trans-continental 
line of this road. The greatest care is taken to give the best satisfaction and to 
furnish accommodations of first-class quality’. 

Mineral Springs. —Poncha Hot Springs are five miles from Salida, a full 
description of which will be found on another page. Wellsville Hot Springs are 
six miles distant down the Arkansas River. Here there is a natural warm plunge 
bath, the waters of which are strongly impregnated with medicinal qualities. The 
Wellsville Springs are a favorite resort and are made the objective point for many- 
very pleasant excursion parties. 


COTTONWOOD HOT SPRINGS. 

Hunting, Fishing and Health Resort. Population, Nominal. Elevation, 7.950 feet. 

The Cottonwood Hot Springs have long been famous in Colorado for their 
curative properties. They’ were the resort of the Indians before the whites took 
possession of the countiy and have since been greatly improved and made 
accessible to invalids and tourists. The springs are situated six miles from Buena 
Vista, whence a stage line convey’s passengers arriving on the Denver & Rio 
Grande Railroad to the springs/ For cases of inflammatory rheumatism, lead 
poisoning and diseases of the blood, these waters possess remarkable curative 
properties. The scenery of the valley’ in which the springs are situated is of great 
loveliness, the Collegiate Range of Mountains forming an imposing background. 
Fine trout fishing can be found in ten minutes’ walk up and down Cottonwood 
Creek and the neighboring hills abound in game. 

Hotels. —The Cottonwood Hot Springs Hotel furnishes first-class accom¬ 
modations. 


COTTONWOOD LAKE. 


Fishing Resort. Population, Nominal. Elevation, 10,700 feet. 

South Cottonwood Creek forms this pretty sheet of water, which lies twelve 
miles southwest of Buena Vista. Its waters swarm with trout and the hillsides 






IX LAKE 

Peamc x_«cce. jcc 

A two ions' cnve fans Graine Station, cc the apso. _ne of tie Eer^ 
4 c P_o Gmfe r.ai.nad- bop the lirrcir line Zrk f3L Of p_ ne t ea it 
aad pleasure resitta of ihe Upper Anssss Ya lLer dae Tw» _axe= s per- 
'-^-< s —rsr reted. Water 15 icwhere :/j pt.sr.m_ n Cctdeadi tie -S-~eat 

irvers - istally mrow aid izpcd arreaaaa tm aemci £im n nicmn 

<-rr ~ ~ - 21 exieiGoc. Tiev are ffiSTt 



wim anc ne 

These Lr —- possess peculiar mens as a phff oc resin _ 
r_ rje ~~r t~-7r~ r -?—s~r hmvtmf am my-seven feet—orcr ne at : mee-mms 
miles—at the ~~~ m 1 if a. camr_ a a hue a>:a: : — in I7 kscty m — m _ a . 

Oi zc are —,i~ heats, an m tr tame cat a_ * -ays te ccoaeiL 

Loth lakes are well owffcwi «zth zsz 111 tie le.ziiorixr stream m aionpi 
m tT Vinfaia tTOOE. tin'll 1_1Z tfe ■!.« IS are -ZZi §K£5S GC petse. v ~ vi 111 

refected a tie tiacrd wnere. are LkamE Zlten mntea za: 
aad £fty-ixe fee- m -eight La Plata, f men 
eleven »eaih higher liar rikes reax, Laxe 3 *£: 

Several rich 11.1 ng Lmz Lave beet cpeacd 11- 
Lakes that promise to give to Lite 


-~.z 


*r- 




ice ti tie Local 



tp a prosperous tcwa. tie hotel aid 
good aid will be rapidly extended. 

aLrx.it coistatr mad of china aid society jprrtks aid 
partes ecraiig com to tie faxes fiu or ba: e. ao 
brings a fresh. infix of visitors, eilrre 

to ■nHwr. Twi 


iz» 




:te is 





1 Lazes is cie of tie highest if tie pettier R:<iky Lint 
drr.ishes an tufadnr an dice fir bx rnfaifar. net n 
nils critter faniels are necessary an ilea r f apparel aid thick - :<: in inkers 
are ladLpetsahle at light The Latter part of July aid part if Aw —-- * 
stum tie ra.iv aeasci, o. Lei there fa anaLj a ao®er cr qy day. 
sicceeded :n tied me _ r by a clear axy aid bttgit ana'ifie. 

Kr/TEL.—The Iiterlaxen Hotel finishes exieLeit aiiimi>ia: 
viaitirs aid a aapiieiteiiei with, bcardirdocaes aii irtraie esta 


LEADV1LLE. 

This Gr^at Ca-'sccae* t~; Pic: 5 . 10 c. Bevatns. ::xc fSsi. 

Leadri.e irat became ism to fane t : 171 as Cal dorm GtlLt tie :f the 
richest placer canoe :i Colorado, r rom : *-1 to i'kSi 5 - 010.001 ir Id fist =-ere 
washed from the arocid of this zilch. I he camp T^as aftenmia nearly ahn- 
doted aid it was not util r'"f that the carh» rate beds tf ell . er were cietiTerei. 
Immediately after this discovery a neat nah eisied to the ian*:iate taut, 
which was named LcadnLXe, aid the tcpilaictt roee fnn a nnm imher to 
30/000. Lead- Le is the cotnty seat of Lake eon tty aii is aftiared to* die 
main line of the Denver L Rio Graide Railroad. 1: :s fie thirf eftj n sue in 
Colorado and the greatest aid nest muqoe carhciate nimz camp fn the vodd. 
The visitor to Leaf idle is irresistibly reniiei of the ~nr is if :a; n hldler: 









































































EVERGREEN LAKES—NATIONAL FISH HATCHERY—FREMONT PASS. 37 

“Colorado, rare Colorado! Yonder she rests, her head of gold pillowed on the 
Rocky Mountains; her feet in the brown grass; the boundless plains for a play¬ 
ground; she is set on a hill before the world and the air is very clear so that all 
may see her well.” The city is lighted by gas and electricity: has telephonic 
communication with surrounding points ; has the usual conveniences and luxuries 
of cities of corresponding size and in all respects ranks as one of the greatest 
cities of this great State. Leadville is one of the most interesting cities in the 
world to the tourist. It abounds in scenes of a novel and characteristic nature 
and presents views'of life entirely foreign to the conventional. Mining methods 
are here fully illustrated in every form, from lode mining to hydraulic and sluic¬ 
ing work. Leadville has a handsome theatre, the Tabor Opera House, having a 
seating capacity of one thousand. The scenery around Leadville is magnificent. 
It is walled in on all sides by towering mountains whose summits are crowned 
with eternal snow. Occupying so high an altitude, the effect is remarkable, and 
tourists can find no more striking or interesting scenes than those presented by 
Leadville and its wierd and wonderful surroundings. 

Hotels. —Leadville is well supplied with good hotels, the principal one 
being the Vendome, conducted by Mr. C. H. Morse. Livery accommodations 
are first-class and the Boulevard affords one of the finest drives in the State. 

Soda Springs. —Situated on the front of Mount Massive, at the mouth of 
Colorado Gulch, and distant five miles from Leadville, are the popular Soda 
Springs. ^ The Boulevard, a carefully-constructed drive, one hundred feet in 
width and as smooth as a race track, gives access to the springs, a stage con¬ 
necting with Leadville twice a day. The springs are strongly impregnated with 
soda and are of a highly medicinal character. There is excellent trout fishing 
within a few minutes’ walk of the springs, pleasant drives and rides are numerous 
and placer as well as lode mining are in progress in near proximity, easily acces¬ 
sible to the inspection of the tourist. 

Hotel. —The Mount Massive Hotel affords first-class accommodations, set¬ 
ting an especially fine table. It is provided with good bath-houses supplied with 
iron and soda water from adjoining springs. 

EVERGREEN LAKES. 

Health and Fishing Resort. Population, Nominal. Elevation, 10,500 feet. 

On the eastern slope of Mount Massive, six miles southwest of Leadville, is 
situated one of the most pleasant summer resorts, known far and near as the 
Evergreen Lakes. To the people of Leadville, and to the tourists visiting the 
Carbonate Camp, these lakes afford an easily accessible and very charming 
place for a day’s outing, or, if time permits, for a prolonged sojourn. The lakes 
are natural bodies of water improved by the hand of man. Upon their surface 
float handsome sail and row-boats and in their depths sport myriads of mountain 
trout. 

Hotel. —The Evergreen Lakes Hotel is a large and comfortable building, 
with elegant accommodations for guests,- and among its other conveniences 
possesses a large hall for dancing. This popular resort is reached by two roads 
from Leadville. __ 

NATIONAL FISH HATCHERY. 

At the Evergreen Lakes is located the national fish hatchery. This is a branch 
of the main hatchery at Washington and is under the supervision of the National 
Fish Commission. Here are bred annually millions of trout and their kindred, 
which, after reaching a certain age, are turned loose in the numerous trout streams 
throughout the State, assuring an abundant supply of fish at all times. 

FREMONT PASS. 

The Highest Railroad Point in North America. 

Through an Arcadian valley the approach to Fremont Pass is made. A 
famous pass, with the historic name of him who has been called the Pathfinder, 





38 red cliff—EAGLE RIVER CAtON —steamboat springs. 

although a later day has witnessed greater achievements than his among the Rocky 
Mountains. A journey here deserves the title of a pilgrimage, for from the summit 
of this pass the traveler can discern the Mount of the Holy Cross. The scene 
is one replete with vivid interest. Fainter and fainter grow the lines of objects in 
the valley, until at last the clouds envelope the train, and at the next moment 
the observer looks down upon a rolling mass of vapor through which the light 
strikes in many colored beams. The sublimity of the scene forbids all thoughts 
other than those of reverence and rapture. The railway crosses the pass at an 
altitude of eleven thousand five hundred and forty feet—higher than any iron 
trail yec established in North America or the Old World. 

Mount of the Holy Cross. —From the crest of Fremont Pass the traveler 
looks eagerly about and soon catches sight of the sacred symbol which gives 
name to the famous mount. The snow-white emblem of Christian faith gleams 
with bright splendor against the azure sky. The wayfarer at last realizes that he 
has reached that height “around whose summit splendid visions rise.” This is 
one of the best points of view from whicn to behold this wonderful mountain and 
can be reached by a two hours’ ride on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad from 
Leadville. 


RED CLIFF. 


Mountain Mining Town. Population, 1,000. Elevation, 8,671 feet. 

Red Cliff is situated on the Eagle River, on the Standard Gauge through line 
of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. It is a flourishing mining town and is in 
the heart of the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by the grandest of scenery. Good 
hunting and fishing can be found here and good accommodations for the tourist. 

Mount of the Holy Cross. —From Red Cliff one can obtain an unusually 
tine view of the famed Mount of the Holy Cross. From here the adventurous 
tourist can make the journey to the mount if he be so inclined. No grander view 
can be conceived than that of this wonderful mountain, which bears upon its 
bosom the sacred symbol of Christianity. 


EAGLE RIVER CANON. 

Cliff-Perched Dwellings of the Miners. 

Beyond Red Cliff the Eagle river canon opens to the view at first a com¬ 
paratively wide expanse, later more narrow, walled in on each side by cliffs of 
vari-colored rocks, whose lofty and apparently insurmountable summits bear the 
dark banners of the pine. Admiration and awe at this stupendous work of 
nature take possession of the mind, when suddenly these emotions are over¬ 
shadowed by wonder and almost incredulous surprise at the daring of man, for 
there above us on our right, perched like the nests of heaven-scaling eagles, 
rest the habitations of men—the town of Gilman! These are the shaft houses and 
abiding places of adventurous miners, who, having climbed these cliffs, pick in 
hand, have here discovered rich veins of the precious metal, which being blasted 
from its matrix, is conveyed to the railroad track, 2,000 feet below, by a most 
ingenious system of tramways and endless steel ropes. There is something very 
impressive in the sight of these frail cliff-perched dwellings, and the shaft-penetra¬ 
ted, tunnel-pierced rock peaks suggest irresistibly the fabled cavernous labyrinths 
of “ Kor.” Nowhere can the traveler find a more interesting and instructive illus¬ 
tration of mine methods than is here presented by the shaft-scarred sides of Battle 
Mountain and the pinnacle-perched eyries of Eagle River Canon. 

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS. 

Wonderful Hot Springs of Routt County. 

Leaving the railroad at Wolcott station, the tourist can go by stage or private 
conveyance to Steamboat Springs, distant seventy miles, and reached by a most 
interesting and picturesque route. The road follows up the divide between the 
Eagle and Grand rivers through a fine grazing country, dotted here and there 





CAftON OF THE GRAND. 39 

lakes. The Kokomo and Sheephorn ranges rise to the east, 
while the Mount of the Holy Cross towers to the south. From the summit of the 
divide a fine view of the Flat Top mountains can be obtained. Descending, the 
tra ye le . r ea t e rs Egeria Park, famous for its lovely scenery, a noted feature of 
which is the Topanas, or “ Sleeping Lion.” Finger Rock, 265 feet high from base 
to top, is also a remarkable landmark. The first stream crossed is the Roaring 
hork of the Yampa river, al mg which is to be found the finest trout fishing in 
Colorado. Elk, deer, bear and mountain sheep abound here. Progressing, 
“Court-House Rocks ” come into view and beyond is the “ Devil’s Grove.” This 
curious uplift in the form of a grave, with a great headstone rising from one 
extremity, is an object of great interest. Passing through Yellow Jacket pass, 
the Harrison Bottoms fine grazing lands are entered and soon the famous 
“ Steamboat Springs ” are reached. Here is a thriving town of about Soo inhab¬ 
itants, who certainly have a most magnificent place of residence. The springs 
send off clouds of steam and its escape makes a peculiar puffing noise, whence 
the name. There are sixty of these springs, embracing those characterized by 
sulphur, magnesia, iron and soda. The springs vary from 156 degrees of heat to 
cold. The scenery around the springs is exceedingly attractive. The Storm 
mountains, around whose summits storm clouds always gather, Crystal Park, 
Soda Park, Sheddegger’s Park and Fish Creek falls are all objects of interest, 
and within a radius of ten miles. The Fish Creek falls are three miles east of 
Steamboat Springs, they are 150 feet in height and have a width of eighty feet. 
Those in search of health, the beautiful in nature or who enjoy the recreation 
of the sportsman or fisherman cannot do better than make a visit to Steam¬ 
boat Springs. 


CANON OF THE GRAND. 

One of Creation’s Greatest Miracles. 

The Canon of the Grand river is approached through the valley of the Eagle. 
Gradually the valley narrows, high bluffs hem us in on the left, the river is close 
to the track on the right, and its fertile banks suddenly change into a tumbled, 
twisted, black and blasted expanse of scoria. The few trees on the hither side of 
the stream are also black, an inheritance of fire, the waters under the black banks 
and reflecting the blackened trees, take on a swarthy hue—a stygian picture! 
Just beyond, a distant glimpse of fertile country, and the clear waters of the 
Eagle are lost in the muddy current of the Grand and a canon greater in extent 
and more varied in character than that of the Arkansas opens before us. As 
the train speeds downward, the mountains on the horizon behind us seem to rise 
upwards towards the zenith as though the miracle of creation was being repeated 
before our eyes. Soon, however, the distant mountains are shut out and only the 
sky above, the river and track beneath and the cliffs around are visible, and 
here begins a panorama kaleidoscopic in its ever-changing forms and colors, the 
wonder of one who sees, the despair of the one who wished to tell others what 
he saw. 

In places the effect is that of giant Egyptian art and architecture. Vast 
bastions of granite, strata on strata, rise to a stupendous height, braced against 
rock masses behind them infinitely vaster. Suggestions of the Sphinx and of the 
pyramids can be caught in the severe and gigantic rock-piled structure on every 
hand. These are not made up of boulders, nor are they solid monoliths, like those 
in the Royal Gorge. On the contrary, they are columns, bastions, buttresses, walls, 
pyramids, towers, turrets, even statues of stratified stone, with sharp cleavage, not 
m the least weather-worn, presenting the appearance of Brobdignagian masonry, 
hence I use the phrase “ rock-piled structures ” advisedly and as best descriptive 
of what there exists. 

But the kaleidoscope is shaken and the rock pieces are rearranged. The 
effect is startling. We have left Egypt, with her shades of gray and her frowning, 
massive and gigantic forms. We are in a region of glowing colors, where the 
vermillion, the maroon, the green and the yellow abound and mingle and con¬ 
trast. What strange country was the prototype of this? Ah! yonder is something 



GLENWOOD SPRINGS. 


40 

characteristic—a terraced pyramid bounded with brilliant and varied colors—thfe 
teocoli of the Aztecs. 

Whirling around a headland of glowing red rock, which it seems ought to be 
called “ Flamingo point,” we are in a region of ruddy color and of graceful forms. 
Minarets, from whose summits the muezin’s call might readily be imagined falling 
upon the ear of the dwellers in this “Orient in the West,” spires more graceful 
than that of Bruges, more lofty than that of Trinity, towers more marvelous than 
Pisa’s leaning wonder, columns more curious than that of Vendome, splintered 
and airy pinnacles, infinite in variety, innumerable! inimitable! indescribable! 

In a moment darkness and the increased rumble of wheels—then light and 
another marvelous view. We have passed tunnel No. i, the portcullis; darkness 
again for a moment, then the blue sky above us. We have entered through the 
postern gate; darkness for the third time, absolute, unmitigated blackness of 
darkness—this must be “the deepest dungeon ’neath the castle mote”—but soon 
again we see the blessed light and there before us lies Glenwood Springs. 


GLENWOOD SPRINGS. 


Health and Pleasure Resort. Population, 4,000. Elevation, 5,768 feet. 

Glenwood Springs is the county seat of Garfield County and is situated at 
the junction of the Grand and Roaring Forks Rivers. It is reached via the Den¬ 
ver & Rio Grande Railroad through line, via Leadville. The ride over Tennessee 
Pass, down through Eagle Canon in sight of the Mount of the Holy Cross, thence 
through Eagle River Canon across the Valley of the Eagle and through the 
canon of the Grand River, is a most thrilling, interesting and romantic expe¬ 
rience and can be accomplished in four hours. At its termination the tourist or 
the invalid finds himself in a valley or park, fully five thousand, two hundred feet 
above sea-level, protected on every side by lofty mountains, which holds within 
its limits a series of hot sulphur springs bursting out of the mountain rocks and 
forming lakes of large proportions, making natural bathing places which by artifi¬ 
cial means have been rendered very convenient for the use of man. This hot 
sulphur water, used as a drink or to bathe in, has been found very efficacious as 
a remedy in many diseases, and the volume of the water is so great that there 
seems to be no limit to the uses to which it may be applied, or to the number of 
people who may partake of or be benefited by it. Above the springs, as they 
rush out of the rocks, are large open caves which, somewhere within their recesses, 
must have communication with the hot sulphur water below, because they are 
filled with the hot sulphur vapor or steam, which rushes out from their mouths 
in dense clouds. One may enter these caves, divest one’s self of clothing, 
penetrate as far as the heat will allow, and partake of a natural hot sulphur 
vapor bath such as can be had nowhere else in the world, and which must be of 
great remedial or curative value for many complaints that the human frame is 
afflicted with. The trout fishing is superb. Trout of two to eight pounds weight 
are taken in great numbers, and with little trouble. In the fall and winter the 
hunting is very fine, deer, elk, bear, grouse and ptarmigan being driven into the 
park in great numbers by the heavy snows on the surrounding mountains. ■“ The 
winter climate is quite mild; hundreds of invalids remain at the springs encamped 
in tents the entire season. 

Hotels— Glenwood is well supplied with hotels. The new Hotel Colorado, 
completed and opened in June, 1893, at a cost of $350,000, is probably one of the 
finest resort hotels in the United States. It is built of peach-blow Colorado stone 
and contains two hundred guest rooms and forty private baths, is built in Italian 
style, and located immediately under the shadow of the mountains, with the 
banks of the famous Pool immediately in front of it. It is surrounded by beautiful 
parks and drives, and, withal, is a most delightful place to spend a season. This 
beautiful hotel is owned by Mr. Walter Raymond of the Raymond Vacation 
Excursions, and all the parties managed by him spend at least a week here. The 
hotel is under the management of Mr. A. W. Bailey, formerly of Manitou, whose 
ability as a hotel manager is second to none in the country. There are two other 
hotels, though less pretentious, the Hotel Glenwood and the Hotel Barlow. 



ASPECT. 4. 

Ihe Hunter’s Paradise.— Perhaps the best hunting and fishing in all the 
Rocky Mountains can be found on the head-waters of the White and Yampa, or 
Bear Rivers, in Northwestern Colorado. To reach these wild and virgin regions 
take the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad to Glenwood Springs, where horses and 
pack animals can be obtained. From this point a journey of forty miles north¬ 
ward brings the sportsman to Trapper’s Lake, at the head of the White River, 
from which two men recently took five hundred pounds of trout in a single day. 
The head of Bear River lies thirty miles further north and affords a perfect par¬ 
adise for the lovers of outdoor sports. The whole region abounds in deer, elk, 
bear and other large game. 


ASPEN. 


Mining Town. Population, 7,000. Elevation, 7,868 feet. 

Aspen ranks as a city of the second class and has a well-organized and 
efficient city government. The streets are wide and in the residence section they 
are lined with trees. The city is supplied with a fine system of water-works, by 
Which the inhabitants are furnished with the purest water, and it has one of the 
most perfect electric light systems in the State. 

Aspen is the county seat of Pitkin County. The credit of both county and 
city is good, the city’s warrants selling readily at ninety-eight cents. 

The city is situated in a beautiful valley that is well enclosed with mountains 
of the most picturesque character. The ground slopes gently to the Roaring 
Fork, a gem among mountain streams, room enough being afforded to accom¬ 
modate a large population of busy people. The elevation of the city is just 
sufficient to give a pleasant climate and is low enough to make vegetation 
luxuriant. All kinds of vegetables are grown and the lawns are clad in luxuriant 
verdure. The climate of Aspen is salubrious. In winter the ground is well 
covered with snow, but the weather is never severe. In summer the days are 
never excessively hot, while the nights are always cool. The enclosing mountains 
protect the city from the winds that are so common in many places. This feature 
of the climate'is peculiar and is well held to be a great attraction. Invalids find 
that there is no place in the west where relief and permanent health can be more 
quickly secured. Those suffering from throat or lung troubles, and dyspeptics 
universally, find renewed health after a very short residence. The mineral belt 
upon which Aspen is located is believed to be the richest ever discovered 
in the world. The first locations at this point were made as far back as 1879. 
Considerable work was done and many important discoveries made during the 
immediately succeeding years. The mineral resources of the camp were shown 
to be sufficient to justify the construction of a railroad to the place. Early in 1887, 
the Denver & Rio Grande management determined to build and in November 
its trains were running into Aspen. Since that time, the development of the camp 
has been marvelous. It is now producing at a rate of more than $10,000,000 a 
year and the output is being rapidly increased. The mineral belt passing through 
Pitkin County is forty miles long, only three miles of which have been developed, 
and the results obtained indicate plainly what the future of the Aspen district 
is to be. Aspen combines great activity in mining, with beautiful, attractive 
surroundings, and this combination will always make it a point of interest to 
tourists. From Aspen drives extend in every direction to attractive mountain 
resorts. Ashcroft is fourteen miles distant, the road leading up Castle Creek, 
probably the most beautiful stream in the State. Maroon Lake, near the head of 
Maroon Creek, is reached by a drive that is unsurpassed in natural features. 
Curtis Lakes, eight miles up the Roaring Fork, is a delightful resort. These are 
only a few of the points that the tourist will find pleasure in visiting. The 
streams are filled with trout and good hunting is found in the neighboring 
mountains. 

Hotels.— Aspen is well supplied with hotels, the Hotel Jerome being a fine 
new brick structure, well managed and deservedly popular. The Clarendon Hotel 
is another hostelry of considerable note. 



42 


PONCHA HOT SPRINGS—AMONG THE CLOUDS. 


PONCHA HOT SPRINGS. 


Pleasure and Health Resort. Population, 200. Elevation, 7,480 feet. 


These noted Hot Springs are situated on the narrow-guage line of the 
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, five miles southwest of Salida. Visitors to the 
Hot Springs who arrive via Denver have the advantage of seeing the famous 
Manitou, Garden of the Gods and the Grand Canon of the Arkansas. As a 
resort for invalids, this place offers superior inducements, especially to those 
suffering from chronic troubles. The sick get well here in less time and with 
less medicine than in any other sanitarium outside of Colorado. The return to 
health here is made radically permanent. A great variety of diseases are cured 
by the peculiar earth-heated and earth-medicated waters and an intelligent sys¬ 
tem of oaths. The scenery is in the heart of the grand old Rocky Mountains 
and is too sublimely beautiful and picturesque for adequate description. The 
effect on the sick is wonderfully beneficial, correlating a specific energy with the 
climate and pure atmosphere, and the very feeble are enabled to tolerate much 
hotter baths than in damper or lower altitudes and secure correspondingly 
greater results. The analysis of the Poncha Hot Springs corresponds almost 
exactly with the waters of the Hot Springs in Arkansas. The temperature of the 
various Arkansas Hot Springs varies from qo° to 175 0 ; that of the Poncha Springs 
varies from oo° to 185° Fahrenheit. The water is clear as crystal and perfectly 
odorless and tasteless. It quenches thirst whether cold or hot and does not 
disturb the stomach in any manner. There are ninety-nine of these hot springs, 
all flowing from a great field of tufa, the natural precipitation of ages of loss of 
temperature from contact with the atmosphere, and chemically the same as the 
tufa of the Arkansas Hot Springs. The springs have a capacity large enough to 
bathe forty thousand persons daily. Commodious bath-houses have been erected 
and competent physicians are in attendance. The following is the analysis. 


Silicic Acid, .... 32.73 

Sesqui-Oxide of Iron, . . . 1.27 

Alumina,.5.20 

Lime,.20.00 

Magnesia. -74 

Chlorine, ..... .06 

Carbonic Acid Gas, . . . 22.50 


Organic Matter, 

. . . 6.24 

Water, 

. 1.72 

Sulphuric Acid, 

. . . 4.46 

Potash, 


Soda, . . . 


Iodine, . . . 


Bromine, , 

. . . 1.40 


The temperature of the water is from 145 0 to 185° Fahrenheit. The waters are 
said to be a sure cure for rheumatism and all blood and skin diseases and catarrh. 

Hotels. —At the Hot Springs Hotel good accommodations can be secured, 
and, together with boarding-houses, comfortable quarters can be found for 200 
visitors. 


AMONG THE CLOUDS. 

Crossing the Range at Marshall Pass. 

Through Poncha Pass, whose lesser glories lead up to the grand surprises 
of Marshall Pass, as an introductory symphony leads up to the triumphant music 
of a majestic march, the traveler makes his advent. Gradually the view becomes 
less obstructed by mountain sides and the eye roams over miles of cone-shaped 
summits. The timberless tops of towering ranges show him that he is among 
the heights and in a region familiar with the clouds. Then he beholds, stretching 
away to the left, the most perfect of all the Sierras. The sunlight falls with a 
white transfiguring radiance upon the snow-crowned spires of theSangrede Cristo 
Range. Their sharp and dazzling pyramids, which near at hand are clearly 
defined, extend to the southward until cloud and sky and snowy peak commingle 
and form a vague and bewildering vision. To the right towers the fire-scarred 
front of old Ouray, gloomy and grand, solitary and forbidding. Ouray holds the 
pass, standing sentinel at the rocky gateway to the fertile Gunnison. Slowly the 
steeps are conquered, until at last the train halts upon the summit of Marshall 
Pass. The awful silence of the storm-tossed granite ocean lies beneath. The 
traveler looks down upon four lines of road, terrace beyond terrace, the last so 
far below as to be quite indistinct to view. These are only loops of the almost 
spiral pathway of descent. Wonder at the triumphs of engineering skill 
is strangely mingled with feelings of awe and admiration at the stupendous 







GLENWOOD SPRINGS TO GRAND JUNCTION. 43 

grandeur of the scene. A halt of ten minutes gives the visitor an opportunity to 
ascend to the observatory constructed above the station, which elevation com¬ 
mands a view of both Atlantic and Pacific Slopes. One of, if not quite, the most 
awe-inspiring views on the continent. 


GLENWOOD SPRINGS TO GRAND JUNCTION. 

The completion of the Standard Gauge line of the Denver & Rio Grande 
Railroad from Denver, via Pueblo, Leadville, Glenwood Springs and Grand 
Junction to Salt Lake City and Ogden and by connection at the latter city with 
the Southern Pacific Railroad to San Francisco and all Pacific Coast points, 
marks an era in the history of the “ Scenic Line of the World.” It is now possi¬ 
ble to reach San Francisco from Denver and vice versa without change of cars, 
and at the same time to secure the most satisfactory views of the grandest 
scenery in the world. Thousands of tourists in the past have chosen to suffer the 
inconveniences of the Narrow Gauge line rather than miss the wonderful and 
awe-inspiring views which could be obtained only by following this route. This 
sacrifice of comfort is no longer necessary, for, as has been said, the Denver & 
Rio Grande Railroad has now a Standard Gauge through line furnished with all 
the most modern contrivances for comfort, convenience and luxury. 

The overland train is a model in every respect. From the engine to the last 
first-class coach everything is bright and new, and of the most elegant style of 
workmanship and finish. 

The combination mail, express and baggage car is a beauty, and is especially 
constructed for the speedy and convenient transaction of business on the part of 
the train men. Hard woods are used in the interior finish, and the work is 
exceedingly neat, tasteful and substantial. The regular baggage car is equally 
as well built and has many improvements which will be highly useful in expedit¬ 
ing the handling of baggage. 

The smoker is fully the equal of any first-class coaches in general use. It is 
finished in solid oak, with high-backed comfortable seats, elegantly upholstered 
in crimson plush. The car will seat fifty-six people, is lighted by four double, 
highly-finished brass Pintsch lamps, and is warmed by a Baker heater. The 
ceiling is of ornamental oak. The second-class coaches are finished in antique 
oak and furnished with chair seats upholstered in crimson plush. They are 
warmed by Baker heaters and lighted by the Pintsch gas system. Each coach 
will seat sixty people^. 

The first-class coach is the climax of elegance. It resembles a Pullman 
palace cai in luxurious appointments, with the objections to a Pullman as a day 
coach removed. It is finished in mahogany, with ceiling of antique oak, warmed 
by a Baker heater, lighted by four large, double, polished brass Pintsch gas 
illuminators, and has hat-racks of antique bronze. The seats are of the latest and 
most comfortable chair patterns, luxuriously upholstered in old gold plush. The 
windows are large, to afford an unobstructed view of the scenery and are shaded 
by handsome damask curtains. Between the windows are panels of beveled 
plate-glass mirrors. The ladies’ toilet and lavatory is provided with mirrors, 
silver-plated water service and all modern conveniences. A large beveled plate 
glass mirror ornaments one end of the car. At the rear of the coach is a smoking 
compartment with lounges upholstered in olive leather and furnished with the 
greatest elegance. Here also is a magnificent plate-glass mirror. Next to the 
smoking compartment, which is entirely separated by swinging doors from the 
rest of the coach, is the gentlemen’s lavatory and toilet room. The coach will 
seat fifty people. . 

The' coaches are all painted in Tuscan red, with handsome gold trimmings, 
and the entire effect is that of rich and substantial elegance. One great conveni¬ 
ence and novelty is that all the platforms are lighted by a brilliant gas illuminator. 

The engines which haul these magnificent trains are also new and giants of 
their class, having cylinders 18 x 24 inches. There are six 54-i n 5 c h drive wheels, 
connected. The total weight of each locomotive is 107,000 pounds, with a weight 
of 81,000 pounds on the drivers, Their length over all is fifty-four feet. Tne boiler 



44 CRESTED BUTTE—GUNNISON—WAUNITA HOT SPRINGS. 

is fifty-eight inches in diameter, with 252 two-inch tubes. The stack is straight, 
tnere is an extension front, and none of the latest improvements are omitted. 
The tender has eight wheels and a capacity of 3,000 gallons of water and six tons 
of coal. Through Pullman palace sleepers and first-class dining cars are attached 
and the passenger need not change cars from Denver to San Francisco. 

The scenery between Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction is very attractive, 
presenting a delightful minglingof mountain, valley and river views. Traversing 
the downward course of the Granc. River, one of the most beautiful streams in 
Colorado, the line offers attractions of a most romantic and charmingly varied 
character. . 


CRESTED BUTTE. 

Mining Town, Health and Fishing Resort. Population, 1,200. Elevation, 8,878 feet. 

This pretty village is situated most delightfully among the mountains, one 
castellated peak directly opposite the town conferring the name it bears. This is 
the center of the most remarkable coal region yet discovered in Colorado and 
abounding also in rich mines of gold and silver. At Crested Butte, just back of 
the village, is found abundant measures of exceedingly bituminous coal, which is 
mined largely and made into coke. Four miles north of the town anthracite coal, 
equal in every respect to the best found in Pennsylvania, is taken from the top of 
a mountain and shipped all over Colorado and Utah. Eleven miles beyond 
Crested Butte is Ruby, to which point the Denver & Rio Grande have just com¬ 
pleted a branch road, the traffic of which consists of immense quantities of bitum¬ 
inous and anthracite coal. The fishing and hunting in the mountain streams and 
over the wooded hills furnish abundant sport for the residents and tourists and 
the rides and drives afford an almost infinite variety. 

Hotels. —The Elk Mountain House is the leading hotel and affords accom¬ 
modations of a first-class quality. 

Scenery in the Elk Mountains.— Perhaps the finest mountain scenery in 
Colorado, and certainly the least known to tourists, is found in the Elk Mountain 
region, near Crested Butte. A majority of the peaks composing this range stand 
isolated, rising without foot-hill or mesa a sheer six or eight thousand feet above 
the level of the plain. 


GUNNISON. 


County Seat of Gunnison County. Population, 2,500. Elevation, 7,683 feet. 

Gunnison is a flourishing town on the Gunnison River and is located on the 
narrow-guage line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad to Salida and Grand 
Junction. Here also is the junction of the Crested Butte branch with the main 
line of the road. Mines of silver, copper, lead and coal are found in the vicinity 
and smelters have been erected to treat the ores. The town is beautifully situated 
and is in such close proximity to some of the most attractive scenery of the 
Rocky Mountains that it has become a favorite objective point for tourists. The 
Gunnison River offers fine sport for the fisherman and the hills abound in game. 

Hotels.— The La Veta Hotel is one of the most magnificent in Colorado, 
being erected at a cost of $225,000. It is also the eating station for the Denver 
& Rio Grande Railroad. Smaller hotels, restaurants and boarding-houses abound, 
so that the traveler will find no lack of suitable accommodations. 


WAUNITA HOT SPRINGS. 

The Waunita Hot Springs are situated eight miles from Parlins on the 
narrow-guage line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. The waters have 
long been famous for their great medicinal qualities and they have been 
frequented by those suffering from ill health with the most surprising and 
gratifying results. Good accommodations have been provided for guests. The 
scenery surrounding the springs is unsurpassed and no pleasanter place can be 
found by the searcher after health or pleasure. 





45 


BLACK CANTON—LAKE CITY BRANCH. 

BLACK CANON. 

The Grand Gorge of the Gunnison. 

In all the world there is no place so beautiful, imposing, sublime and awful, 
that may be so easily and comfortably visited as the Black Canon, for the iron 
horse has a pathway through the Canon and he draws after him coaches as 
handsome and pleasant as those which he draws on the level plain. Along many 
miles of this grand gorge the railway lies upon a shelf that has been blasted in 
the solid walls of God’s masonry; walls that stand sheer two thousand feet in height 
and so close together that for most of the distance through the canon only a streak 
of sky, sometimes in broad daylight, spangled with stars, is seen above. Once in 
awhile the railroad changes sides with the noisy stream, the waters of which, in 
the semi-twilight that prevails between the rising and going down of the sun, 
seem to be of an exquisite emerald green. Unlike many of the Colorado cafions, 
the scenery in this one is kaleidoscopic, ever-changing. Here the train glides 
along between the close, regular and exalted walls, then suddenly it passes the 
mouth of another mighty canon, which looks as if it were a great gate¬ 
way and unroofed arcade resembling the pathway of some monstrous 
giant. Now, at a sharp turn, there is a stream of liquid crystal pitching from 
the top of a dizzy cliff to the bosom of a sparkling pool which lies beside the 
road. Then a spacious amphitheatre is passed, in the center of which stands, 
solitary and alone, a towering monument of solid stone which reaches to where 
it flaunts the clouds like some great cathedral spire. This is the famed Curre- 
canti Needle. At another place the train goes sailing straight as the flight of an 
arrow, right at a bronze and ponderous bulwark that looks as if the cars must 
crash against it and pile up in broken and splintered masses at the base of its 
rugged and beetling front, but just when, seemingly, the pilot must charge the 
frowning wall, and when before and to the right and left there appears to be no 
means of escape, the engine, as if playing “ tag ” with the cliffs, darts to one side 
with the swiftness of a weasel and away it goes, train and all, thundering down 
another stretch of the echoing gorgeway. 


LAKE CITY BRANCH. 

Following along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison from Sapinero, on the Denver 
& Rio Grande Railroad, the famous Scenic Line of the world, you pass through 
the weird and dismal canon of the Lake Fork, that fills the mind with awe and 
wonder, thence winding through an ever changing view of glen and vale, gorge 
and canon, presenting a glorious panorama of delightful scenery. A trip of forty 
miles brings you to Lake City, nestled amongst the hills, in the very heart of the 
mountains. Lake City is one of the prettiest little towns in the mountains. It 
lies in a beautiful little amphitheatre at the junction of the Lake Fork of the 
Gunnison river and Hensen creek; it was incorporated in 1875. The city is well 
laid out, with shade trees on each street, which give it a handsome and pictur¬ 
esque appearance. Small streams of water, pure and clear as crystal, flow down 
the sides of each street, insuring a perfect system of sewerage. No better class 
of buildings can be found in any mountain town; there are solid, substantial 
blocks of brick and stone that would do credit to a metropolitan city. Its climate 
is mild and equable, the snowfall is light in winter and the mountains protect it 
from winds. The town has a handsome and substantial public school edifice 
built at a cost of $30,000; four religious denominations are represented; the pop¬ 
ulation is intelligent and moral; there are good hotels and superior and conven¬ 
ient terminal railroad facilities; an electric light system will soon be in operation 
and a first-class system of water-works will soon be built. Every arrangement 
has been made for comfort and cleanliness. 

For those in quest of health, Lake City presents superior attractions. The 
summers are delightfully cool and pleasant, extremes of cold and oppressive 
heat is unknown. With its pure, bracing air and clear, cold water, it is 
unrivaled as a sanitarium for those who are ailing. There are a number of fine 
mineral springs in the immediate vicinity which have become famous for their 
curative qualities. 






% 




































































































MONTROSE. 


47 

To the tourist and pleasure seeker Lake City offers special inducements. 
He can make a trip to Uncompahgre Peak, 14,419 feet above sea-level, and enjoy 
one of the grandest sights imaginable. It is but eight miles from town and a 
good wagon road all the way to its base. The route is by Hensen creek canon; 
great mountain ranges rise on each side of you, crags and peaks that pierce the 
sky with their spires. In every canon you pass on the way are scenes of marvel¬ 
ous beauty. Standing on the summit of Uncompahgre when the air is clear and 
transparent the vista is grand beyond description; the world is beneath you, 
mountain piled upon mountain, range upon range, lie at your feet. To the east¬ 
ward are seen the plains of Colorado stretching away in the distance, while 
to the westward the eye takes in the valleys of Utah, while the Wasatch range 
lies like a cloud on the distant horizon. A trip to lake San Christoval is also 
delightful in summer; it would be hard to find a lovelier spot in the Rocky Mount¬ 
ains. A mile from town you pass the beautiful Granite Falls, another mile 
brings you to Argenta Falls, whose waters come down in sheets of foam and 
falls with a noise like thunder into the seething chasm beneath; half a mile 
further and lake San Christoval is seen in all its beauty. This lake was discovered 
by a Spanish monk in the seventeenth century and is a beautiful sheet of water, 
clear and transparent, two and a half miles long and one mile wide; it is studded 
with fairy-like isles, where boating parties go to enjoy a picnic, the variety of 
scenery along its borders is the wonder and delight of the artist, and a sail on its 
waters in the cool, refreshing breeze is delightful. San Juan is well named the 
Switzerland of America, and around Lake City are many of its scenic features. 
Its glens and its valleys surpass the Bernese Oberland; its peaks and domes may 
be compared without exaggeration with those of the Jungfrau and Matterhorn. 

Lake City lies in the center of one of the richest mining sections of Colorado. 
Capital City, Rose’s Cabin, Cottonwood, Sherman, Burrows Park and Carson are 
all tributary mining camps, and all are rich in great and exhaustless ore bodies. 
The mountain sides are literally ribbed and seamed with veins of mineral. Hins¬ 
dale county is the home of the true fissure, with its inexhaustible wealth; the 
ores are principally galena and gray copper. 

Cimarron Canon. —Where Cimarron Creek empties into the Gunnison 
through a short canon, the road leaves Black Canon, which continues on with 
the larger stream, heightening in awfulness. Down there the fall of the river 
increases so rapidly that to follow it to the end the railroad would emerge a 
thousand feet above the valley which it seeks, if a practicable grade should be 
kept, so the engineers have turned the road out to the valley through Cimarron 
Canon, and in four or five miles a verdureless expanse is reached, and for hours 
the road traverses a region which is picturesque in its poverty and desolation; 
and in the summer the distant and sun-heated buttes, with the arid plains 
between, remind the traveler of the wastes of Arabia Petra. The Cimarron 
abounds in trout and the country around is alive with large game. The sports¬ 
man will find good accommodations at the station of Cimarron and will be amply 
repaid by the splendid sport he will enjoy here. 

Cerro Divide is reached directly after emerging from Cimarron Canon. 
From here the Uncompahgre Valley, its river and the distant, picturesque peaks 
of the San Juan are within full sight of the traveler. Descending to the valley 
we come to a halt at Montrose. 


MONTROSE. 

Center of Agricultural District. Population, 2,500. Elevation, 5,811 feet. 

Montrose is the center and distributing point for a vast agricultural district, 
whose produce is shipped to all points in the State. There are several large 
irrigating ditches taking water from the Uncompahgre River, which insure the 
farmer, or in western parlance, ranchman, his crop. 

There are several good hotels in Montrose, the principal one being the 
Belvedere, which is also the eating station for all Denver & Rio Grande trains. 



48 DELTA—GRAND JUNCTION—SCENES ON THE SALT LAKE LINE. 

DELTA. 

Agricultural town. Population, 500. Elevation, 4,980 feet. 

Like Montrose, Delta is a town whose entire resources are dependent on the 
products of the soil. The country surrounding Delta, is very prolific, and its prod¬ 
uce is much sought for in the markets of the larger cities. 

Lower Gunnison Canon. —After passing Delta and traversing the rich 
farming lands of the Ute reservation, the road passes through the Lower Gunnison 
Canon, which abounds in striking and beautiful scenery. 


GRAND JUNCTION. 

Junction point. Population, 4,000. Elevation, 4,594 feet. 

Grand Junction is well named, for here is the converging point of the standard 
and narrow-gauge lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad with the Rio 
Grande Western line for Ogden, Salt Lake and the Pacific Coast, as well as the 
confluence of the two largest rivers in Colorado, the Gunnison and the Grand. It 
is the commercial center of a vast agricultural region and is also within easy 
access of one of the large coal fields of the Pacific Slope. Natural gas is found in 
abundance. The country contiguous to Grand Junction produces the finest fruit 
in the west; ready market at the best prices is always attainable in Denver, 
Pueblo and other larger cities, to which places great quantities of pears, apples, 
peaches and grapes are shipped every year. The eating house at the station is 
conducted by Mr. E. A. Thayer, which in itself is sufficient guarantee of an 
excellent meal. 


SCENES ON THE SALT LAKE LINE. 

The Book Cliffs.— The space of over one hundred miles intervening 
between the Grand and Green Rivers resembles a billowy desert and is espe¬ 
cially interesting for its wild and peculiar characteristics. Close by, on the north, 
are the richly-colored Book Cliffs, while away to the southward the snowy groups 
of the Sierra la Sal and San Rafael glisten in the distance. Between them may 
be distinguished the broken walls which mark the Grand Canon of the Colorado, 
scarcely fifty miles away. Beyond Green River and Castle Valley commences 
the steep ascent of the Wasatch Mountains and the beautiful in Nature again 
appears. 

Castle Ca^on. —Near the Azure Cliffs, so called from the color of the clay, 
the Green and Grand Rivers join to form the sublime Colorado, which empties 
into the Gulf of California. Beyond is Castle Canon, at the entrance to which stand 
two towering sandstone shafts which rise to the height of five hundred feet, looking 
like monstrous castles, with battlements, bastions and turrets guarding the way 
and just wide enough apart for the train to pass between. The canon which 
follows is another of sublime beauty. Great walls and dome-appearing rocks lift 
on either side in appalling grandeur and the tourist is deeply impressed with the 
sublimity of the scene. After a few miles through this grand gorge the train 
plunges into the heart of the Wasatch Mountains and then emerges into the 
beautiful and fertile valley of Utah, in the center of which lies a long, blue sheet 
of water, Utah Lake. 

Castle Gate.— Guarding the way to Price River Canon, through which the 
railroad runs into the very heart of the range, stands Castle Gate, similar in 
many respects to the gateway in the Garden of the Gods. The two huge pillars, or 
ledges of rock composing it, are offshoots of the cliffs behind. They are of differ¬ 
ent heights, one measuring five hundred and the other four hundred and fifty feet 
trom the top to the base. They are richly dyed with red and the firs and pines grow¬ 
ing about them, but reaching only to their lower strata, render this coloring more 
noticeable and beautiful. Between the two sharp promontories, which are sep¬ 
arated only by a narrow space, the river and the railroad both run, one pressing 
qlosely against the other. The stream leaps over a rocky bed and its banks are 




SALT LAKE CITY, 



r 



































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































PROVO—SALT LAKE CITY. 


50 

lined with tangled brush. Once past the gate, and looking back, the bold head¬ 
lands forming it have a new and more attractive beauty. They are higher and 
more massive, it seems, than when we were in their shadow. Huge rocks project 
far out from their perpendicular faces. No other pinnacles approach them in 
size and majesty. They are landmarks up and down the canon, their lofty tops 
catching the eye before their bases are discovered. 

Soldier Summit is the next striking feature on the route to Salt Lake; then 
come in quick succession the Red Narrows and Spanish Fork Canon. These are 
all characterized by beauty and grandeur; they are full of charming contrasts, 
soft contours and whispering waters. 

Utah Valley resembles in its Arcadian loveliness the vales of Scotland 
and is a mountain-girdled, well-cultivated park. 

Utah Lake lies in the center of the valley of the same name. It is a pict¬ 
uresque sheet of clear, fresh water, to the north of which lie the Mormon towr.c 
of Provo and Springville. The scene is an entrancing one. Eastward the oblong 
basin is shut in by the Wasatch Mountains and on the west is the Oquirrh 
Range. Northward are low hills, or mesas, crossing the valley and separating it 
from that of the Great Salt Lake, while in the south the east and west ranges 
approach each other and form blue-tinted walls of uneven shape. To the left of 
this barrier, Mount Nebo, highest and grandest of the Utah peaks, rises majestic¬ 
ally above all surroundings. Its summit sparkles with snow, its lower slopes are 
wooded and soft, while from it and extending north and south run vast, broken, 
' vari-colored confreres. The valley is like a well-kept garden; farm joins farm; 
crystal streams water it, and scattered about in rich profusion are long^ lines of 
fruit trees, amid which are trim white houses. Salt Lake City is visible and 
beyond slumber the waters of the Great Salt Lake. 


PROVO. 


Summer Resort. Population, 5,000. Elevation, 4,517 feet. 

Provo is pleasantly situated on the Provo River, a little back from Utah Lake, 
and shaded by the near peaks of the Wasatch Mountains, at whose base it lies, 
forty-eight miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Its streets are wide and well laid 
out, lined with trees, and one of its chief characteristics is the great number of 
large and elegant private buildings it possesses. Provo is a pleasant summer 
resort and is a favored spot for relaxation and rest. 


SALT LAKE CITY. 

Capital of Utah. Population, 52,000. Elevation, 4,228 feet. 

Salt Lake City, the interesting city by the great salt sea, is in a veritable 
garden. Low and picturesque adobe houses harmonize in their cool, quiet tones 
with the extensive orchards of fruit and gardens of flowers which surround 
them and the business blocks in the center of the city are imposing and strong. 
Back upon a “bench,” and several hundred feet above the city, is Fort Douglas, 
the flag of the Republic standing out in bright relief against the Wasatch. The 
buildings are partly covered with and surrounded by trees, while the sun lights up 
in glinting sparkles of gold the polished cannon that stands on guard. In this 
place it has no warlike look and the picture would miss an interesting and bright 
feature were it removed. Strong and rapid mountain streams come rushing 
through the canons and are led into the city where the clear, cold, limpid waters 
sing a pleasant song as they sport and play along the sides of the streets, where 
they are conducted through the entire city. The Oquirrh Mountains shut in the 
valley to the west, the Great Salt Lake, twenty miles away, glimmering in the 
sunlight like a stream of silver. The great object of interest to the tourist and 
stranger is Temple Square; here are situated the great ecclesiastical buildings 
of the Mormon Church. Prominent among them is the Temple, Tabernacle and 
Assembly Hall, as shown in the illustration. 

Hotels. —Salt Lake is well supplied with first-class hotels, among which are 
the Knutsford, the Templeton, the Cullen, the Walker House, the Continental, 
the Clift, the White House and the Metropolitan. There are many smaller hotels 
and an abundance of restaurants and boarding-houses. 




SALT LAKE tq OGDEN. 


51 


The Great Salt Lake is a mysterious inland sea, which more than any 
other body of water on the globe has created and left unsatisfied the curiosity of 
mankind. Its dead, dreamy, silent, tideless, slumbering waters are still an enigma, 
both to the learned and unlearned. The lake has an area of 2,500 square miles 
and its surface is higher than the Alleghany Mountains. Its mean depth is about 
sixty feet and numerous small islands ornament its bosom, the principal of which 
are the Antelope and the Stanbury. At different periods the level of the lake has 
changed and rechanged most perceptibly, which has led scientists to conjecture 
that the shore land was by no means stable. It compares with other bodies of 
saline water analytically as follows: 

water. solids. 


Atlantic Ocean 
Mediterranean 
Dead Sea 
Great Salt Lake 


96 5 
96 2 
76 o 

86 o 


3 § 
3 8 
24 o 

14 o 


In specific gravity, distilled water being unity, the following comparison exists: 

Ocean Water . . . . . . . 1 027 

Dead Sea . . . . . . . . . 1 116 

Great Salt Lake ........ 1 107 

Of late its waters have been numerously frequented for bathing purposes and 
there cannot be any doubt whatever of their valuable hygienic effects. This fact, 
in addition to the many mineral springs abounding in Utah, makes it a sanitary as 
well as a scenic paradise. 

Saltair. —The Rio Grande Western Railway has opened a new bathing resort 
at Saltair, on the Great Salt Lake, about eighteen miles from the city. During the 
season bathing trains are run almost hourly from Salt Lake City to Saltair; these 
trains enable all overland passengers stopping off at Salt Lake City to have a bath 
in the great dead sea. Here is located the finest bathing pavillion on the conti- 
nent, each of the elegant bath-rooms is fitted with shower-bath, stationary water- 
bowls, mirrors, chairs, incandescent electric lights, etc., making Saltair one of the 
most attractive watering places on the continent. There is a first-class restaurant; 
careful male and female attendants and a silver-cornet band furnishes music day 
and evening. Prof. John Muir, the celebrated scientist and literateur, speaks as 
follows concerning a bath in the Great Salt Lake: 

“Since the completion of the trans-continental and Utah Railways this mag¬ 
nificent lake in the heart of the continent has become as accessible as any 
watering-place on either coast, and I am sure that thousands of travelers, sick and 
well, would throng to its shores every summer were its merits but half known. 
Saltair is only a few minutes’ ride from the city and has good hotel accommoda¬ 
tions, and then, besides the bracing waters, the climate is delightful. The mountains 
rise into a cool sky, furrowed with canons almost Yosemitic in grandeur and filled 
with a glorious profusion of flowers and trees. Lovers of science, lovers of wild¬ 
erness, lovers of pure rest will find here more than they ever may hope for. 


SALT LAKE TO OGDEN. 

From Salt Lake to Ogden the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad traverses a 
narrow plain. On one side are the dead waters of the great Salt Lake, on the 
other the serrated peaks of the Wasatch Mountains. The region is highly culti¬ 
vated. Farms reach their brown or green fields over its length and breadth and 
little streams run in bright threads out of mountain canons and across the 
meadows. The lake is in full view of the traveler most of the way and is a 
never-ending source of interest. What history belongs to it ? Why is it, of all 
America’s inland seas, salt and without life ? But the train speeds on and, enter¬ 
ing an amphitheatre set around with mountains, reaches Ogden, the western 
terminus of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, the scenic line of the world. 



52 


OGDEN—HUNTING AND FISHING. 


OGDEN. 

Railroad and Manufacturing Center. Population, 25,000. Elevation, 4,236 feet. 

Ogden, the principal city of Northern Utah, is beautifully located on the 
western slope of the Wasatch Mountains. It is well laid out and well built; the 
streets are wide, regular and lined with shade and ornamental trees and lighted 
with electric light. By a system of water-works the mountain streams and 
springs furnish an abundant supply of pure water ; the natural sewerage system 
is particularly favorable and many of the private residences and grounds are 
very handsome and the business houses and public buildings are solid and 
substantial. 

Ogden is the junction point with the Southern Pacific Railroad for the coast. 
There are several good hotels in Ogden, one of the best being the hotel at the new 
Union Depot. 


HUNTING AND FISHING. 

Colorado is the sportsman’s paradise. No finer country for the lovers of the 
rod and gun can be found than that contiguous to the Denver & Rio Grande 
Railroad. The principal varieties of game found are deer, elk, antelope, bear, 
grouse, wild tprkey, quail, wild geese and duck. In the Elk Mountains the big 
horn (or mountain sheep) are quite common and frequently a mountain lion may 
be found. 

Wagon Wheel Gap, on the southern extension of the road, is a favorite resort 
for the sportsman, game of every kind abounds in the surrounding hills, and the 
Rio Grande and its confluent streams are full of trout. This is true in general of 
all the clear, rapid water-courses among the Colorado hills. Certainly the angler 
can hardly go amiss in search of sport. With many the rarest of sport is enjoyed 
in chasing antelope or rabbits upon the plains with hounds. Nowhere else in 
America are greyhounds so numerous as here, and they seem, by the law of the 
survival of the fittest, likely to still further increase. 

In the San Luis Park, between Alamosa and Saguache, are the San Luis Lakes, 
or marshes, in which may be found a profusion of wild geese and ducks. These 
marshes are reached by a day’s drive from Alamosa and are readily traversed on 
foot. Swans, also, are found there, and white brant, or snow geese, as well as 
sand-hill cranes. 

On the mountains, between Antonito and Durango, near Los Pinos Creek and 
the Chama River, are extensive regions almost devoid of settlements and here¬ 
tofore seldom reached by sportsmen. Here are broad plateaus and pleasant 
valleys, where game is abundant, the climate unsurpassed and nothing wanting 
that the hunter can desire. To camp out among the pines and stalk deer and elk, 
untroubled by mosquitoes or flies, with venison and trout for diet, plenty of elbow- 
room and scenery that might entrance the soul, is a consummation any sportsman 
might covet. 

All the San Juan region abounds in game and the streams and lakes are full 
of trout. Durango, Silverton, Lake City, Ouray, are all excellent headquarters 
for the hunter, and he will have no difficulty in soon discovering plenty of elk and 
deer, and, if so disposed, a grizzly or a cinnamon bear. 

To the northward, in the Elk Mountain country, near the Gunnison River, 
game is equally abundant. Beyond the Saguache Range, near Red Cliff, are also 
favorable ranges for game of all kinds found in the State. To name all the points 
on the Denver & Rio Grande near which game and trout abound would be to 
recapitulate nearly all the names of the towns enumerated in the regular folder 
of the road. On the Salt Lake narrow-gauge extension the sportsman will find 
one of the best fields for enjoyment. Stopping at Poncha Springs, Mears, Parlins, 
Sapinero, Cimarron, Montrose, Delta, Grand Junction, Green River, Lower Price 
Crossing, Pleasant Valley Junction or Hooper, the hunter or fisherman will find 
superb sport within a radius of five miles. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad 
will take particular pains to give sporting parties the best accommodations and 
assist them in every possible manner. 



CLIMATE OF COLORADO—HOW TO REACH THEM. 


53 


CLIMATE OF COLORADO. 

The climate of Colorado is undoubtedly the best in the world for the con¬ 
sumptive. It is also especially delightful to the individual in good health. 
Tourists make a mistake in leaving Colorado just as the most agreeable season 
begins, i. <?., the opening of September. From that month to December come the 
most pleasant days. Below is a res ume of the seasons as given by Professor F. A. 
Loud, of Colorado College: 

Winter.— The reports fail to make credible the fact that for several hours 
on the majority of winter days invalids can sit on porches without extra wraps; 
so powerful is the sun’s heat in winter that sunshades are grateful and midday 
picnics are taken with enjoyment and benefit. It is at this season that the great¬ 
est improvement is noticed in the consumptives. 

Spring. —The spring is undoubtedly here, as elsewhere, the least desirable 
season of the year, but it compares favorably with other climates, and there is no 
period of melting snow or special month to be shunned, and an invalid can on 
occasion change with advantage his location on the elevated ground of Colorado 
to New Mexico, fo~ a few weeks, guided by the weather reports. 

Summer. —Temperature by day: In the shade the heat is seldom over 82°. 
The air being dry, the heat is much less felt than a lower temperature in damper 
climates. The temperature by night is almost invariably cool and two blankets 
at least are grateful to sleep under, while the mornings and evenings being cool, 
without dew or dampness, give sufficient daylight hours for exercise for those 
who shun the midday heat. 

Autumn. —The autumn is perhaps the most enjoyable season of the year; it 
is very dry and warm, without excessive heat and with few storms. 


HOW TO REACH THEM. 

The compiler of this little book has taken much pains to point out an<$ 
describe the many points of interest in Colorado, Utah ana New Mexico, and now 
a few hints as to the advantages offered by the railroad company to enable the 
traveler to reach them speedily and comfortably will not be out of place. The 
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad runs its trains to nearly all of the points named, 
and to the points which the railroad has not yet reached, to the nearest railroad 
station, where other conveyances can be secured. It is the aim of the railroad to 
furnish every facility to the invalid, tourist or sportsman to visit these points with 
the greatest ease and comfort, and to this end its trains are equipped in a style 
that is unsurpassed by any railroad in the world. This equipment comprises 
elegant day coaches, easy and luxuriant reclining chair cars, magnificent Pullman 
sleepers and that climax of comfort and luxury the buffet car. During the sum¬ 
mer season, from April till November, observation cars are attached to all regular 
passenger trains which run through the Black Canon. These cars are especially 
adapted to sight-seeing and the traveler has an unobstructed view of this grandest 
of all mountain scenery. Special rates are made from May till November, to 
tourists, that will enable them to visit any point named in this book at a great 
reduction from the regular local rates. 

The trans-continental traveler who may not have the time to spare to make a 
sight-seeing tour, need only take his ticket via the “Great Scenic Line,” and 
from the car window, as he speeds on his journey across the continent, or by 
taking advantage of the observation cars, through the canons of- extraordinary 
interest, avail himself of an opportunity to witness many of the points described, 
as the entire trip from Denver to the Great Salt Lake is one grand panoramic 
view of gorgeous mountain scenery that has not a parallel in the whole world. 

Perry Park by carriage from Larkspur, seven miles. 

Bonanza, Kerber Creek, Saguache by stage from Villa Grove. 

Tomichi, White Pine by stage from Sargent. 



54 


ALTITUDES—DISTANCES. 


Gothic, Ruby, Irwin by stage from Crested Butte and Aspen. 
Tin Cup, Alpine by carriage from Nathrop. 

Cottonwood Hot Springs by stage from Buena Vista. 

Twin Lakes by hack line from Granite and Leadville. 

Mount of the Holy Cross by horse from Red Cliff. 

Soda Springs, Evergreen Lakes by stage from Leadville. 
Tierra Amarilla by carriage from Chama. 

Pagosa Hot Springs by stage from Amargo, twenty-five miles. 
Ojo Caliente by stage from Barranca, twelve miles. 

Pueblo de Taos by carriage from Embudo, thirty miles. 


ALTITUDES OF TOWNS AND CITIES. 


Revised since 


Alamosa. 

Animas City. 

Animas Forks. 

Antonito. 

Aspen. 

Buena Vista. 

Canon City. 

Castle Rock. 

Colorado Springs ... 

Crested Butte.. 

Conejos. 

Cottonwood Springs 

Cuchara. 

Cumbres. 

Delta. 

Del Norte. 

Denver. 

Durango. 

El Moro. 


Feet. 

7.546 

6.554 
11,200 

7.555 
7,775 
7 , 97 <> 
5,344 
6,220 

5,992 

£§g 

7 , 95 o 

5,943 

10,015 

4,963 

7,880 

5U96 

6,520 

5,879 


first edition from engineers’ measurements. 


Ft. Garland. 

F'eet. 

Granite. 


Grand Junction. 

.... 4,583 

Gunnison. 


Glenwood Springs . .. 


Howardsviile. 


Irwin. 


Kokomo. 


Lake City. 

.... 8,550 

La Veta. 


Leadville. 

.... 9,637 

Los Pinos. 

Montrose. 

.... 5,793 

Malta. 


Manitou. 

.... 6,324 

Ojo Caliente .. 

.... 7,324 

Ouray. 


Ogden, Utah. 

... 7,108 

Pagosa Springs. 


Pinos, Chama Summit. 

Feet. 
... 9,902 

Poncha Springs.. 

... 7,480 

Palmer Lake.. 


Pueblo. 


Rico. 


Red Cliff. 

... 8,671 

Robinson. 


Rosita.. 


Ruby Camp.. 


Saguache.. 

... 7,723 

Salt Lake City. 


Silver Cliff.. 


Silverton. 


Salida.. 


Telluride.. 

Trimble Springs.. 

... 6,644 

Westcliffe. 

, . # 7,864 

Wagon Wheel Gap..., 



ALTITUDE OF MOUNTAIN PEAKS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 

RAMPART RANGE. 

Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

14,147.Pike’s Peak.El Paso.Manitou Springs. 

FRONT RANGE. 

From Lula Pass to Canon City in the transverse valley of the Arkansas. 
This range divides Grand County from Boulder County, passes through Gilpin 
County, Clear Creek County and Park County, and ends in Fremont County. 

Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

14,271 ..Long’s Peak. ..Boulder_Boulder. I 4,336..Torrey’s Peak..Clear Creek.Georgetown. 

I 3 , I 73 «* Audubon. “ _Sunset. 14,411..Gray’s Peak.... “ “ 

13.520.. Arapahoe. “ “ 14,321..Evans Peak.... “ “ 

1 3.283.. James Peak.Gilpin.Central City. 14,340..Mt. Rosalie. “ “ 

* 3 , 1 33*.Perry’s Peak... “ .... “ “ 12,446.. Bison Peak.Park.Fairplay. 

12.873.. Mount Flora ... “ .... “ “ 

MEDICINE BOW RANGE. 

Is due northern continuation of the North Range. 

Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

13,832.Haynes Peak.Larimer.... 

13,167.Clark’s Peak. “ .. 

BLUE RIVER RANGE. 

Sometimes called Eagle River Mountains, runs parallel with the Park Range 
through Summit County. It ends in the western part of Park County. 

Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

I 3 , 39 ^"Mount Powell..Summit.... Dillon. 13,565..Mount Guyot. ..Summit....Breckenridge. 

12.382.. Red Peak. “ .... “ 13,800. .MountHamilton “ .... “ 

12.890.. Miles Peak. “ .... “ 13,835..Silver Heel.Park.Como. 

13.200.. Whale Peak....Park.Breckenridge. 

PARK RANGE. 

Begins in the northern boundary of the State, marking the boundary lines of 
Routt and Larimer and ends in the transverse range of the Arkansas Mountains, 
passing through Eagle, Summit, Lake. Park and Chaffee Counties. 























































































ALTITUDE OF MOUNTAIN PEAKS. 


55 


Height. Name. County. Nearest Point, 

ia,126..Mount Zirkel. ..Larimer..- 

14.269.. Quandary.Summit_Breckenrdige. 

14.297.. Lincoln.Park.Alma. 

13.796.. Arkansas. “ “ 

13.961.. Buckskin. “ .... “ 

i4,i8s..Bross. “ “ 

13,65°..Evans (No. 2).. “ “ 


Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

14,00s..Sherman.Park.Alma. 

I 3 » 75 °-.Sheridan (No. 2) “ _Fairplay. 

13.909.. Horseshoe. “ _ “ 

13,738-. Ptarmigan. “ .... “ 

13.328.. Buffalo Peak... “ _ “ 

14.132.. Goat’s Peak_ “ .... “ 


SAGUACHE RANGE. 

Begins in Eagle County and runs parallel with the Park Range, the Arkan¬ 
sas River flowing between them in the southern region. It traverses Lake and 
Chaffee Counties and ends in the Cochetopa Hills, the central part of the Con¬ 
tinental Divide. 


Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

14.176.. Mount of the .. 

Holy Cross...Eagle.Red Cliff. 

i3,°73..Homestake. “ “ 

14.424.. Mount Massive. Lake.Leadville. 

14.436.. Elbert. “ “ 

14.302.. La Plata Peak,.Chaffee_Buena Vista. 


Height. Name. 

County. 

Nearest Point. 

! 4>375--Harvard.... 


..Buena Vista. 

14,187.. Yale. 

a 

<< 

14,199. .Princeton... 


.. Salida. 

i4,245..Antero. 

(( 

tt 

14,239. .Shavano_ 

a 

.. Mavsville. 

IF055.. Ouray. 

a 

..Marshall Pass 


ELK MOUNTAINS OR ASPEN GROUP. 


This range is a great semicircle of mountains in Pitkin County, with Aspen 
in the centre and with spurs running into the adjoining county of Gunnison. 


Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

12.823.. Sopris Peak_Pitkin.Carbondale. 

I 3 > 997 -.Capitol Peak... “ Aspen. 

13.978.. 5.ow Mass .... “ “ 

14,008..Maroon Peak .. “ “ 

13.885.. Pyramid Peak . “ “ 

14.115.. Castle Peak.... “ “ 


Height. Name. _ County. Nearest Point. 

13,327 • .White Back.... Gunnison... Crested Butte. 

13.113.. Teocalli Peak.. “ ... “ “ 

I 3>9S^. .Grizzly.Pitkin.Aspen. 

I 3 > 35 °- .Italian Peak.... Gunnison... Crested Butte. 

13.357.. White Rock_Pitkin.Aspen. 


WEST ELK MOUNTAINS. 

Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

13,102.West Elk Peak.Gunnison.Gunnison. 


SANGRE-DE-CRISTO RANGE. 


It unites at its northern point with the Arkansas Hills, which run east and 
west, and with the Cochetopa Hills, which run from the southwest to the north¬ 
east and which form a part of the Continental Divide. 

N. B.—There are many unnamed peaks above 13,000 feet in this range. 


Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

12.446.. Hunt’s Peak. ..Fremont . ..Poncha. 

12.863.. Rito Alto.Custer.Villa Grove. 

13.600.. Silesia Peak_ “ Hot Springs. 

13.729.. Gibson Peak... “ “ “ 

13.447.. Horn Peak. “ .Moffat. 


Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

14,233. .Crestone.Grant No. 4.Moffat. 

14,041. .Humboldt.Custer.Silver Cliff. 

14,483. .Sierra Blanca.. Costilla .... Alamosa. 

14,176..Old Baldy. “ ....Blanca. 

13,615. .Grayback. “ .... “ 


CULEHA RANGE. 


Is a continuation of the Sangre-de-Cristo Range. 


Height. 

Name. 

County. 

Nearest Point. 

14,079... 

. ..Culeha Peak. 



13,01 I . 

Trinchera. 


<< 

I 3 , 7 i 8 ... 

. ..Spanish Peak. 

a 

<< 


THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS. 


This range is the southern part of the Continental Divide. It has many 
lateral ranges, like buttresses, and its general course is from southeast to north¬ 
west, where it joins with the Uncompahgre Range and the Cochetopa Hills. It 
is very little known, and contains many high unnamed mountains. It is spread 
over Saguache, Hinsdale (southern part), Archuleta, Rio Grande and Conejos 
Counties. 


Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

14,032..Stewart Peak ..Saguache ..Lake City. 

14.100.. 5.n Luis Peak . “ 

13.131.. Mesa Peak. “ .. “ 

12.840.. Bristol Head. ..Hinsdale ..- 

14,092..Red Cloud. “ ..Lake City. 

14.149.. Handies Peak.. “ .. “ 

13.400.. Pole Creek Peak “ .. “ 

12.506.. San Juan Peak “ ...- 


Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

13.154.. Macomb’s Peak.Hinsdale.. Wagon Wheel 

Gap. 

12.673.. Bellevue Peak.Rio Grande Del Norte. 

13,081..Del Norte Peak “ “ 

1 3.347.. Conejos. “ Pagosa Springs 

12,824. .Banded Peak. ..Archuleta.. “ 

14,065..Simpson’s Peak Rio Grande Del Norte. 



































































56 


ALTITUDE OF MOUNTAIN PEAKS—NON-MALARIAL. 


NEEDLE MOUNTAINS. 


A series of short ranges on the west side of the Grand Divide, buttressing 
the San Juan Mountains. It contains many high isolated peaks named and 


unnamed. 

Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

12.305.. Sheridan Peak..La Plata .. .Durango. 

(No. 1) . 

14,054.. AJolus. “ ... “ 

14,051.. Needle Peak ... “ ... “ 

13.755.. Mount Oso. “ ... “ 

13.928.. Pigeons Peak.. “ ... “ 

14,055.. Rio Grande Pyr-. San Juan.. Needleton. 

amid. 


Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

I 3 > 54 2 . .Mount Kendall.San Juan.. .Silverton. 
i3»356. •Mo'unt Canby.. “ 

13,550. .King Solomon.. “ . . “ 

13,501..Sultan. “ ... “ 

J3,357..The Hunchback “ ...Durango. 


OURAY MOUNTAINS. 


A prolongation of the San Miguel Mountains to the north, uniting with the 
Uncompahgre Chain, which runs from west to east. 

Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

14,340.Mount Sneffels.Ouray.Ouray. 


SAN MIGUEL MOUNTAINS. 

Height. Name. County. N^pxest Point. Height. Name County. Nearest Point. 

14,075..Unnamed.San Miguel Telluride. 13,890..Unnamed.Dolores ....Rico. 

14.160.. Lizard Head... “ “ Trout Lake. 12,703 .Mount Freeman “ _ “ 

I 4 » 3 ° 9 •• Mount Wilson.Dolores ....Ophir. 12,516..Mount Elliott.. “ .... “ 

13.502.. Dolores Peak .. “ .... ‘ 5 12,542..Anchor. “ _ “ 

12.703.. Mount Dolores. “ ....Rico. 12,635..Lone Cone.San Miguel.Telluride. 


LA PLATA MOUNTAINS. 

Are a prolongation south of the San Miguel Range. 

Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

13,376.Hesperus.Montezuma.Dolores. 

13,456.Babcock.La Plata. . .Durango. 

UNCOMPAHGRE MOUNTAINS. 

This range is short and runs from west to east. It contains some very high 
mountains, usually at right angles to the chain. 

Height. Name. County. Nearest Point. 

14,419.Uncompahgre.Hinsdale.Ouray. 

14,069.The Wetterhorn. “ . “ 


FREEDOM FROM MALARIA. 

Colorado is exempt from a long train of diseases common to the low lands 
of the East, the high altitude, sparkling water and pure, dry mountain air 
rendering malaria, fevers, cholera and epidemic diseases almost impossible. The 
invalid will find health and strength returning to him while summering in Colo¬ 
rado and those who are in good health will find immunity from disease and an 
abundance of enjoyment. The summer resorts of Colorado present all the 
attractions of handsome hotels, beautiful scenery, medicinal waters and good 
society. The tourist should visit the Rocky Mountains for pleasure and the 
invalid for health. 

Figures that Don’t Lie.— A high altitude and a dry climate are condu¬ 
cive to health. Pulmonary troubles find relief and in most cases cure under such 
conditions. If now we wish to know in regard to the absolute and relative moist¬ 
ure of Denver (which is a pretty fair standard for the health and pleasure resorts 
of the State), we have no better means of judging than by turning to the data 
which the Signal Service Bureau furnishes, and, for the purpose of putting forward 
these and other facts of interest, we introduce the following table, complied from 
sr data: 


Stations. 

I. 

Elevation 

II. 

Mean 

10 Years, 
Barom¬ 
eter. 

III. 

Mean 

4 Years, 
Relative 
Humidity 

IV. 

Mean 

4 Years, 
Absolute 
Humidity 

V. 

Mean 
xo Years, 
Precipita¬ 
tion. 

VI. 

Mean 

10 Years, 
Temper¬ 
ature. 

VII. 

Mean 

5 Yea. s, 
Prevail¬ 
ingly inds 

Augusta, Ga. 

183 

30 - HO 

69.2 

4-56 

48.98 

648.2 

N. E. 

Jacksonville, Fla. 

43 

30.030 

69.0 

5-38 

55-94 

60S. 2 

N. E. 

Boston, Mass. 

Newport, R. I . 

New York, N. Y. 

142 

29.840 

68.5 

2.66 

49-47 

488.5 

W. 

34 

164 

29.950 

29.857 

74-3 

70.2 

3 -o 7 

3.02 

50.20 

42.70 

508.3 

518.3 

s. vv. 
s. w. 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

A 2 

30-084 

68.8 

3-17 

41.89 

538.2 

s. w. 

Chicago, Ill. 

661 

29 - 3 I 7 

69.2 

2.77 

35-47 

408.3 

s. w. 

St. Paul, Minn. 

8n 

» 9 -i 33 

67-3 

2.23 

29-59 

438.9 

S. E. 

Denver, Col. 

5>*94 

24.778 

45-8 

1.81 

14-77 

498.1 

s. 

Santa Fe, N. M. 

7,046 

23-263 

4*-4 

1 . 61 

14.17 

488.5 

E. 

Salt Lake, Utah. 

4>348 

25-644 

4°-3 

1.76 

J 7-52 

518.8 

N. W. 

Los Angeles, Cal. 

3SO 

29.674 

65.8 

3-77 

18.97 

598-8 

W. 


























































































































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